The Best of Hogwarts
by catcatcatcat13
Summary: Draco has a really big secret, which will soon turn his world upside down. Harry gets a hint as to what it is, and does everything to know more. Meanwhile Blaine notices a very beautiful voice as they sing the school song, and can't get it out of his head. Klaine/Drarry. Takes place on Hogwarts. Kurt!Slytherin, Blaine!Ravenclaw, Rachel!Slytherin, Finn!Gryffindor.
1. Chapter 1

It was Kurt Hummel's first year at Hogwarts, and he was trembling with anxiety as he ran through the big brick wall at King's Cross and entered platform 9/3.  
His brother; Finn, was right behind him and together with their mother and father, they walked up to a man who put their luggage into the big train named The Hogwarts Express. It was scarlet, and looked like it could contain twice as many people than it was built for. The smoke came up from its front, making the air above the people near it blurry. Kurt had been nervous about starting at Hogwarts, but somehow the train calmed him down. Something about its greatness and atmosphere made all his anxious thoughts disappear. His mother was praising Finn on being a good student this year, and how much she was hoping he'd end up in Gryffindor. Kurt looked out through the big crowd, and felt like he could faint at any second. He had never liked being around so many people. Through all the wizards and witches spread across the platform, he spotted a boy who had bright, blonde almost white hair, and a pale face. He was looking smug, while talking to his father, but as he turned to his mother to say goodbye his face expression changed to a softer one and he hugged her tight before walking towards the big train. Just as he did that Kurt realised his own father was trying to get in contact with him.

„Kurt," He said for the third time, and finally Kurt moved his look from the boy and looked up at his father. „Now. You know what we've been talking about."

„Gryffindor," Kurt said and sighed. His parents had both been in Gryffindor, and they were very anxious about him and Finn getting in there, too. He was almost certain about the fact that Finn would get into the House of the Brave, but he himself had always been attracted to the darker side, as much as an eleven year old can be. His parents knew, of course, nothing about this.

„We love you," His father said softly, „And even if you don't get in Gryffindor, we will still love you." _Right_, Kurt thought and fought the urge to roll his eyes. The Hogwarts Express started making a lot of noise, and additional smoke came out of it, as it was about to start.

„Hurry, hurry!" their mother commanded, as she pushed both Kurt and Finn towards the doors of the train. „See you soon!" She yelled. They waved through the window for a few seconds, before they both turned around and walked through the train, looking for an empty coupe. They passed some with one or a few persons in them, and a lot of full ones. Kurt had noticed the pale white-haired boy sitting in a coupe by himself, and convinced Finn to go back to that coupe and sit with him. Finn sighed and as they reached the coupe-door he slid it open and the pale boy quickly looked up at Finn with a cold look.

„What?" he asked yersely. Finn looked uncertain at Kurt before saying, „Can we sit with you?" The pale boy looked over Finn's shoulder and noticed Kurt before nodding slightly. „Thanks. The others are all filled." Kurt followed his brother into the coupe and sat down opposite of the boy. „I'm Finn Hudson," Finn said and smiled at the boy.

„Draco Malfoy," He said and looked at Kurt. „What about you? Can you talk?" Finn wrinkled his eyebrows, ready to defend his brother, but Kurt just smirked at the boy and nodded. „And you are…?"

„Kurt," Said Kurt and returned Draco Malfoy's gaze in a challenging way. He put out his hand and Draco looked at it for a second before shaking it. He seemed to loosen a bit up, because he leaned back into his seat and looked out the window, looking quite relaxed.

„So have you heard?" Asked Draco. „The famous _Harry Potter_ is on this train," He said the name as if it was poisonous. Kurt basically ignored it, as he didn't think much of this Harry Potter character. He was happy that Lord Voldemort was out of the world, but as far as he thought and knew he didn't actually do anything, this Harry Potter. He was just a baby. Finn seemed to think differently though.

„Really?" He asked excited and quickly got up. „Excuse me," He mumbled as Draco nodded. He walked out of the coupe and down through the train.

„Is he your brother?" Draco asked, and Kurt nodded proudly.

„Half brother," he said.

„What house are you hoping to get into?" Draco asked quietly.

„My parents wants me in Gryffindor," Kurt started, and smiled as Draco scoffed. „But I'm hoping for Slytherin." Draco's lip twitched before he nodded agreeing.

Blaine Anderson was sitting in a coupe with his sister Rachel, and a few other students who were talking about something called Quidditch. Blaine and Rachel were muggle born, and didn't know anything about the wizard world until they had turned 11 and gotten their Hogwarts acceptance letters. As one of the students mentioned a thing called a 'quaffle' for the third time, Blaine interrupted, wanting to know what this game was about.

By the time they arrived at Hogwarts, darkness had crept over the sky, giving the castle a daunting atmosphere.

The 1st years were lead into the Great Hall by a tall professor with a strict look in her eyes. The new students all knew in a split-second that they did not want to make her mad in any way. The professor; McGonagall walked up to the big head table where all the teachers sat, watching the new students; all busy exploring every inch and corner of the room with their hungry looks. McGonagall explained what was going to happen and called up „Abbott, Hannah." Everyone stared at her as she went up on the small chair and got an old hat placed on her head. A few moments passed before it shouted out „_Hufflepuff!_" „Anderson, Blaine!" She yelled, and a curly-haired boy went nervously up to the chair and sat down. The hat had barely touched his head before it shouted „_Ravenclaw!_" The boy went to join the other Ravenclaws. „Anderson, Rachel!" Professor McGonagall yelled and a nervous-looking girl with flat, dark brown hair practically fell over her own feet, trying to get to the small chair as fast as possible. The hat was silent for a long time before shouting out „_Slytherin!_". She ran down to the Slytherin table and sat down, and so it went on until it was Finn's turn. „Hudson, Finn." Finn got up, and was placed in Gryffindor as expected. „Hummel, Kurt!" Kurt tried to walk up to the chair, looking brave, and lifted up his chin as he sat down. Professor McGonagall put the hat on his head, and everything got dark as it covered his eyes. Kurt almost jumped as he heard a voice in his head.

„Bravery, yes… Oh but also… You sure have ambitions, boy. Yes, lots. Also a dark side. But is the lighter side greater…?Manipulative. You know how to act in given situations. Yes…" Kurt had kept quiet the whole time and unconsciously held his breath for a few seconds before the hat shouted out „_Slytherin!_" The hat was removed from his head, and he went down to the other Slytherins who were all cheering and applauding. As he did, he caught Malfoy's eye, and smiled at him as he sat down besides Rachel Anderson.

**5 years later****.**

„Here we go again," Kurt sighed as he and Draco Malfoy sat down together in the Hogwarts Express, ready for another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Draco scoffed and threw his bag by the wall, before falling onto the seat. Kurt and Draco had been friends since the very first day of school, 5 years ago. Kurt had been aware of the fact that he was gay since their 4th year, where he had realised he liked Draco a bit more than as a friend. He hadn't told Draco any of this though, as he might get the wrong idea. They were best friends, and he did feel like he could tell Draco everything, but this probably was a bit too much. Draco wasn't exactly the best person to discuss these things with anyway. Mostly if Kurt had problems or were in a dilemma, he went to his brother Finn, who he had also told this secret to. Even though Finn respected this, and tried to help his brother, he did obviously not understand it, as he didn't understand why Kurt even bothered being friends with Draco in the first place. But him being in Slytherin and Finn being in Gryffindor made them different on a lot of levels. They rarely talked during the school hours, but they were able to engage in deep conversation or just be quiet in other's company whenever they were home.

Draco leaned back into his seat and stared out the window with his usual first-day-of-school look, that showed how desperately he wanted to be somewhere else.

„One year left," Draco mumbled. Kurt looked compassionate at his best friend, and neither of them spoke until the train set in motion.

„Did your parents sign your Hogsmeade permission slip this summer?" Draco asked after a long time with silence. Kurt looked surprised at him, and shook his head. Draco rarely asked Kurt about things like this. Actually he didn't really start conversations himself at all that much.

„No," Kurt murmured. „I don't know what it's for. It's not like I could switch to Gryffindor - even if I wanted." His parents had kept telling Kurt that they still loved him unconditionally, that it didn't matter that he was a Slytherin, but their actions showed differently. They treated Finn a lot better than him. Finn would get his way when it was reasonable, and Kurt would never get his no matter how right he was. And it was only on really good days they would give him permission for things Finn would do all the time –as in this case the Hogsmeade permission slip. Draco shook his head slowly and sighed.

„I'm tired of going there alone."

„Bring Rachel." As soon as the words had left Kurt's lips, Draco quickly turned his head to give Kurt a harsh, horrifying look, he normally only gave him whenever he mentioned Harry Potter.

„Why would I ever bring Anderson? _You're _her friend. I'm just your friend," He said and returned to looking out the window, at the passing meadows and hills.

„She's okay once you get to know-"

„A mudblood like her doesn't belong in Slytherin. She should just have been put into Ravenclaw with her brother. In that house she could really be the overachiever she is," Draco said in a condescending tone.

„She's ambitious, Draco. I would think you'd know what's that like," Kurt pointed out. Draco rolled his eyes and Kurt figured it would be better just drop the subject. After having known Draco for six years, reading him wasn't the hardest thing to do. Only a moment after Draco had said this, Rachel opened the door to their coupe and smiled at Kurt.

„Any room for me?" She asked carefully, and Draco gave Kurt a penetrating look before resuming his staring out the window.

„Sure," Kurt said and Rachel sat down besides him.

„Thanks," She said and smiled again. „So are you finally going to Hogsmeade this year?" She asked, and looked cautiously at Draco as he scoffed. Kurt smiled awkwardly, ignoring Draco as he answered.

They were halfway to Hogwarts when Draco opened his eyes after having slept for a while. Kurt movedhis look from Rachel and smirked at Draco.

„Morning, sunshine."

„Did…" Draco began and a terrified look grew on his face. „Did I fall asleep?" Kurt nodded and got slightly scared as Draco's eyes became distant like he was seeing something they couldn't. „What's wrong?" Asked Rachel and looked worried at Draco who looked at Kurt without really seeing him. _Potter_, Draco thought, unconsciously mouthing the words. He quickly got up and hurried out of the coupe, almost falling over as he ran around the corner and down the hall. Kurt looked confused at Rachel, who, too, didn't know what to think.

Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley were sitting in a coupe together discussing the upcoming year.

„Think that Slughorn guy is any good?" Asked Ron, chewing on a cauldron cake.

„I sure hope so," Hermione said. „It's impossible to be worse than Snape, anyway," Harry chuckled and sighed.

„When I met him, he seemed—" He began but stopped as he felt a shooting pain behind his ribs.

„Harry, are you—What's wrong?" Hermione said and cautiously stood up, as Harry put his hands to his head, which felt like it was about to blow up any second. He managed to let out a small moan of pain in between the sudden stings in his stomach.

„Ron, go get help," Hermione demanded, and looked panicky at one of her best friend who was twisting in pain. Ron ran out of the coupe and down the hall.

„Harry, can you—" Hermione held back a scream as Harry fell to the floor and shouted in pain. „Harry!" She looked up as she heard someone enter the coupe. „Malfoy?" She whispered confused as Draco swiftly came into the coupe and sat down besides Harry, taking out his wand. She was about to say something, as she saw the terrified look in his eyes. He put his free hand on Harry's left cheek, trying to make his head stop moving.

„Potter!" Draco said, trying to steady his voice, though he had never felt more nervous and pressured. „Look at me."

„What's wrong with him?" Hermione asked, feeling more helpless than ever, looking at Harry suffering. „What are you doing?"

„Shut up, Granger." Draco snapped, fixing his eyes upon Harry's. „Look at me!" Another shout of pain came from Harry and Draco put his head closer to Harry's and said „Potter, listen." For a split-second Harry made eye contact with Draco and Hermione watched as Draco mumbled „_Retexamus somniare." _An orange bubble slowly came out of the tip of Draco's wand and flew directly into Harry's stomach. The second it disappeared Harry fell back onto the floor not moving a muscle, his breath still slightly faster than normal, but the painful expression on his face had disappeared. Hermione quickly held him in to her and looked confused at Draco who was looking extremely exhausted. The two boys were staring at each other, Harry with a confused, slightly fascinated look and Draco looking worried and uncomfortable.

„What did you do?" Harry said calmly, not sure what had just happened. „How did you know—"

„Don't mention it," Draco said coolly and got up and quickly got out of the coupe without closing the door. Harry looked puzzled after his enemy who had just saved his life, barely noticing Hermione whimpering by his side.


	2. Chapter 2

It was only three days after the train ride Harry broke the school rules.

He was minutes away from the Tapestry Corridor where Snape's storeroom was when he heard a familiar „meow" from the other end of the hallway. It was midnight and he was wandering around the castle wearing his invisibility cloak. He had never been sure of whether Mrs. Norris could see through his cloak or not.  
He ran behind an armour and hid just to be sure until the meowing and the gentle steps from her paws had disappeared. He then continued until he reached Snape's storeroom.  
„_Alohomora,_" He whispered, pointing his wand at the lock, hanging from the door. It slowly opened and Harry quickly rushed into the storeroom, exploring the tiny area with his hungry eyes, looking for that one thing he needed. _Veritaserum._ He felt his heart skip a beat as he noticed the tiny little flask Snape had threatened with using on him in his 4th year. He reached out and grabbed it and took off the small lid and took out another flask from his pocket. He let two small drops fall into it and quickly put the _Veritaserum_ back on the shelf, knowing that if this were to be discovered he would be kicked out of Hogwarts. He walked out of the storeroom and whispered „_Collorportus,_" locking the door.

* * *

Harry woke up the next day by the sound of Ron smashing his hand into the headboard of the bed.

„Bloody hell," he heard him mumble. Harry sat up and rubbed his eyes before putting on his glasses.

„Morning, Ron," he said and smirked at his clumsy friend.

„Don't you smirk at me…" Ron said sleepy and suddenly lifted his head like he just remembered something. „Did you go anywhere last night?" Harry did his best in order to look doubting at Ron.

„What are you talking about?" He asked, proud of how confused he managed to sound.

„I think I woke up at around 12 by the sound of you leaving your bed," Ron said. „I fell asleep again afterwards, but—"

„Must've been a dream," Harry said and started to change out of his sleeping wear and into his robes. „If I even were to go out that late, why would I do it alone?" he unconsciously backed up towards his suitcase, where he had placed the small flask with _Veritaserum_.

„I don't know…" Harry smiled at Ron and together they walked out of their dormitory, leaving the common room and towards the Great Hall.

Throughout the whole breakfast, Harry's only thought was whether he should tell Ron and Hermione that he had stolen _Veritaserum_ or not. _They wouldn't understand, _he kept telling himself. He was going to use it on Draco Malfoy.  
Ever since the train ride he had been speculating about how Malfoy knew he was hurt, and how he knew what to do about it. He had tried approaching Malfoy in the hallways a few times, and even in their double-classes with the Slytherins, but had been rejected each time. He hadn't expected anything else, but he _needed_ to know what Malfoy was up to. Now he just needed a plan as to how he could get the _Veritaserum_ in him. And how he could be alone and question him while it was working. This was also why he wanted to tell Hermione and Ron so much; he could really use some help planning this. He looked discretely at the Slytherin table as Snape approached Malfoy. He mumbled a few things before Malfoy nodded, looking slightly relieved.

Draco and Kurt were sitting by the Slytherin table together, as Snape came up to them.

„Mr. Malfoy. My office at 7pm, Sunday." He said carefully. „We must practice your skills." Draco nodded at his professor.

„'Your skills'?" Kurt asked slightly confused after Snape had left.

„Never mind," Draco said and avoided eye contact with Kurt.

„What skills?"

„Not now, Kurt."


	3. Chapter 3

Six days after, Wednesday morning Harry, Ron and Hermione went to Defence Against The Dark Arts-class with the Slytherins.

It was now two weeks after Harry had stolen the _Veritaserum_, and he had carried it around with him at all times, scared what might happen if someone found it in his room. He had been rather paranoid around Snape ever since, terrified of the thought of Snape realising he had stolen it. But as far as Harry could tell he hadn't even noticed, and there was no way it could be linked to him.

„So who can tell me what Chapter Fifteen was about?" Snape said, holding up an old-looking book with a white cover. Harry was surprised to realise he actually remembered the whole chapter concerning jinxes, but chose not to say anything, as he wouldn't get picked anyways. He was about to return scribbling in his notebook, as he noticed Hermione's hand shoot up in the air, and wasn't surprised as Snape obviously ignored her. „Mr. Malfoy?" He said, and looked towards Malfoy and his friend with chestnut coloured hair.

„What?" Malfoy, who hadn't been paying attention, asked.

„Chapter Fifteen," Snape said harshly. Malfoy mumbled something, and eyed Harry, before the Slytherin table burst out in laughter. „What did it say?"

„Something with jinxes," Malfoy said. He discretely looked at Harry again, making eye contact, before returning his attention to his friend. Harry felt an unfamiliar warmth spread across his stomach, but ignored it and dipped his feather in ink. He drew a rather ugly drawing of Malfoy getting hit by a broomstick, in the corner of an old piece of parchment.

* * *

Blaine Anderson walked to dinner that evening alongside Luna Lovegood, discussing the events of the day. They sat down by the Ravenclaw table, Luna telling about a remarkable bird she had seen in her holiday. By its description the bird sounded a whole lot like a normal bundimun, but he kept quiet, listening to Luna's incredible way to make everything sound magical. She abruptly stopped talking as Dumbledore stepped forward and lifted his arms to greet all the students.

„Before I will let you enjoy your marvellous dinner, let us sing the school song!" As usual, the teachers' smiles became rather fixed, and there were quiet sighs around the Great Hall. Blaine, himself, didn't mind the school song. It was the only way he could get to sing at Hogwarts, and he loved singing more than anything. Before him and his family had known about the wizarding world, he had been very interested in musicals. But of course, being raised by two gay dads added to the obsession of musicals and theatre. Already from a very young age, his favourite musical had been _Les Misérables_, and he had quickly memorised all the lyrics.

Dumbledore waved his wand, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, and rose high above the tables, twisting itself into words. „Everyone pick your favourite tune!" he said, „And off we go!"  
The whole school started singing, all in different tunes, Blaine keeping to the one he felt most comfortable with. As they came to the line '_Teach us something please,_' a voice Blaine hadn't noticed before joined the song. It was a gentle yet very powerful voice. It was like all his senses were being drowned in the beautiful singing of the voice, except for his hearing, which sharpened dramatically. He almost forgot to sing, as he turned around, to see if the voice came from the Gryffindor table. He studied the faces until the song was over, and regretted he didn't search the other tables, too. The voice was stuck in his head even after the song was over, Dumbledore had sat down again and the Hall went back to their everyday conversations. He searched his own table, somehow hoping he'd recognise the face of the voice if he saw it._  
_

* * *

The upcoming morning, Harry, Ron and Hermione walked out of the Gryffindor common room together, and waved at each other as they parted ways. Hermione kept walking towards the _Ancient Runes_ class, and Harry and Ron towards _Divination_.

They quickly reached the North Tower, and climbed up the many stairs and emerged onto a tiny landing. The circular trap door opened itself and a silvery ladder descended at their feet as usual. They climbed up the ladder and walked towards a round table by the window and sat down on the chintz armchairs. Harry discretely opened the window and felt a light breeze wash off the heavy, sickly heat that always reigned in that classroom. Even though it was winter and cold outside, the fire, which was heating up a kettle hanging above it, had been on for way too long. As usual a huge amount of candles were lit, and Harry patiently waited for Professor Trelawney to appear from the shadows as usual.

„Welcome, class," she said with her soft, misty voice. A few students murmured a lazy 'hello', but she barely seemed to notice. „Because of your N.E.W.T.'s we will do some reputation," she said and looked at them through her giant glasses, which Harry still thought made her look like a bug. „Tessomancy," she said and put her hands almost cunningly together. „You will find cups of tea in front of you. Drink it and then read the tealeaves," she said and looked almost fascinated as the students took their books out of their bags, and placed them on the round tables.

„Drink away," Ron said to Harry after he had looked at the tea. It wasn't like usual; it was grainy and looked more like thick juice than tea. Harry looked uncertain at Ron and couldn't help but laugh as their eyes met. „This is horrible," said Ron and stirred in his tea with a spoon. Harry laughed at his friend, but quickly regretted it as it attracted Professor Trelawney's attention.

„Drink," he whispered to Ron, and they both lifted their cups up to their lips and drank till there was nothing left.

Professor Trelawney walked up to them and looked interested at Harry and then picked up his cup.

„Oh, my dear boy," she said, and Harry didn't even bother looking surprised. She looked compassionate at him before handing over the cup to Ron. „Go on," she said, fixing her look on Harry.

„Okay, let's see…" Ron started and opened his book. „Well I see a falcon, and that's… A deadly enemy. And this could be the sun so that would be great happiness," it didn't even seem like Trelawney was listening, she was just staring at Harry, barely blinking. He felt chills up his spine, but tried not to wince too much. He realised he hadn't heard everything Ron had said, and strained himself to listen to the last bit. „… Which means surprise. So something with your deadly enemy, we all know whom that is, and then a surprise that will make you happy," he said and put down the cup. „Better than the first reading, at least," Ron mumbled and Trelawney quickly looked away, like something had caught her attention.

„Yes, very well," she said, and sounded quite confused. „Now your turn," she said to Harry and hurried off to another table. Ron and Harry looked at each other and tried their hardest not to laugh.


	4. Chapter 4

The week had moved too slowly for Draco's liking, and he had chosen to go up in the Slytherin common room after dinner to talk to Kurt, but found him doing homework with a few other students. So he had lain down on the couch, placed in the middle of the common room, and thought about what he was going to tell Snape later that night, instead. He had finally been able to stay at one place in his dreams, like they had been practicing since his 1st year at Hogwarts. He was thinking of how he was going to reveal it to Snape without sounding too enthusiastic, and didn't even realise as he dozed off.

He walked out of the Slytherin's common room a bit before 4 pm, on his way to Snape's office. He stood by the door and was about to knock as he felt someone watching him. He slowly turned around and noticed the hallway was completely dark. Only a few moments ago it had been lit up with the sunlight coming in through the big windows.  
Draco backed into the door and knocked, still staring out in the hallway, hoping he was wrong about what was going on. As no one opened, he took a deep breath and opened it himself. Inside Snape's office everything was dark, too. You couldn't even see the shelves with large glass jars filled with slimy, revolting things, which normally were floating around in various coloured potions. He took out his wand and whispered, „_Lumos_." Before walking inside.  
He was now completely sure that this was a dream. He recognised this exact feeling of being watched from every corner of the space.

From experience he had learned it was best to stay in _one _place during his nightmares, try not to see anyone and just wait until he would wake up. He sat down in the chair behind Snape's desk, his wand lighting up a small amount of space. He closed his eyes and repeated the same thought over and over again, _wake up, wake up, wake u— _Draco quickly opened his eyes as he felt a light breathing against his right cheek. In a split-second he had stood up and pointed his wand out in mid air where he had felt the breath, shouting „_Expelliarmus_!" and a flash of red light shot out of his wand, but didn't hit anything but the wall. It didn't matter anyway; he knew he couldn't hurt anyone in his dreams. Too often he had tried hurting monsters or even people he recognised from real life in his dreams, without success. He had even tried _Avada Kedavra_ a few times, but the enemy didn't even get a scratch. That's why he had to stay in one place. The fewer places he visited, the fewer people or creatures he would meet. He whispered _lumos_ again and wandered around the office, lighting up every inch. He then mumbled „_Lumos maxima,_" craving a bit more light, and sat down at the same chair, not wanting to close his eyes again. „Please wake up." He prayed to himself, trying to shake off the feeling of panic. He felt his heart starting to beat faster as he heard footsteps approaching outside. He ran up to the door and locked it, not wanting anyone to come inside. He wasn't going to harm anyone, not anymore.  
Just as he was standing there, trying to calm himself down, he felt the room starting to dissolve.  
He closed his eyes and opened them again, only to find himself lying on the couch in the Slytherin common room. He wanted to close his eyes, try to forget it all, but there were too many reasons as to why that would be a very bad idea. He had to go see Snape this instant.

„Morning," Kurt said and smiled at Draco, as he sat up and felt the room starting to spin. „I was about to wake you up, but you looked so peaceful." Kurt said and put away the quill he was doing his homework with.

„Peaceful?" Draco spat and stood up, feeling less dizzy. Kurt raised his right eyebrow and looked worried at his best friend. He unconsciously leaned forward, away from the other students he had done his homework with and said, „Are you okay?"

„I need to see Snape," mumbled Draco and hurried out of the common room. Kurt looked after him, before slowly returning to his report on Antidote to Common Poisons.

Draco practically ran down the hallways, towards Snape's office, and realised how empty the school was on a Sunday night. He was about to turn around a corner, as he suddenly couldn't move. His whole body went numb, and he could feel himself falling over. Someone had petrified him. He tried hopelessly to move his head to see who it was, but without luck. Just before he hit the floor, he heard a familiar voice mumbling „_Mobilicorpus._" The spell made him float above the ground for a bit before the wizard, who Draco was sure was Harry Potter, swiftly opened a door into a big cupboard filled with buckets and cleaning supplies. Draco felt humiliated, as he was put down on the floor and the door closed behind him, not being able to do anything about it. Suddenly he felt something near his face, and soon he could feel a cold liquid running down his throat. He wanted to spit it out, but no matter how hard he tried, all he could do was lie at the ground, paralyzed.

After a few seconds had passed, Harry broke the spell, and Draco got the feeling back in his limbs and he quickly sat up and looked around the cupboard. „_Lumos,_" he whispered and the tip of his wand lit up.

„What are you doing, Potter?" Draco asked, as he couldn't see Harry anywhere. He heard him mumble „_Lumos Maxima,_" replacing the light Draco had made. _Nox_, thought Draco.

„I just want to talk to you." Harry said and Draco looked at his calm face. He could only just discern his face. His jawline seemed more defined than usual, and the dark surrounding him made his green eyes stand out, almost like a cat or a snake. The spell only made their faces light up. Draco wasn't sure if Harry really was frowning or if it was the light, making him seem more serious and intimidating. He tore away his look from Harry and gazed at the door. Harry noticed it and shook his head gently. „That would be stupid. I put a spell on it, and only I can break it."

„What do you want?" Draco said, and remembered the tiny amount of liquid he now had in his stomach. „What did you give me?" He asked, ashamed of how scared his voice sounded.

„That doesn't matter," Harry said and put his wand in his pocket, so the tip of it was still shown, lighting up the small room. „Now about the train ride…"

„I said don't mention it," Draco hissed and stood up. He walked up to the door and pointed his wand at the lock. He discretely whispered „_Alohomora._" Nothing happened.

„It's no use, Malfoy."

„I don't like your tone, Potter," Draco spat and turned to face the boy with the messy, dark hair, lightning shaped scar on his forehead and round glasses. He almost waited for the familiar bubbly feeling of hate to appear inside of his stomach as their eyes met. Instead thrill coursed through him. „What makes you think I will answer anything?" Draco asked, focusing his thoughts on finding a way out, in order to ignore the unaccustomed feeling.

„Intuition," Harry mumbled and Draco noticed he tried to hide a smirk. _What's he playing at?_ „So how did you know I was in pain, back in the train?" Harry said. Draco scoffed. _Does he really think I'll just tell him like that?_ He wanted to keep his mouth shut, he was _supposed_ to keep quiet, but something inside him made him open up his mouth and speak out the truth.

„I saw you in one of my dreams," he heard his own voice say. He felt like his stomach was curling up into a ball, and his heart starting to pound faster and harder. „What have you done to me?" Asked Draco and thought back on the liquid. „What did you give me?" The feeling of not knowing was only overshadowed by the thrilling sensation he felt in his stomach every time he got eye contact with Harry. He wasn't sure which he was more scared of.

Harry could see that Draco was genuinely worried, almost scared, but his answer had awoken his interest. _His dream? _He thought and stared at Draco.

„What do you mean?" Harry asked. He had given Draco the _Veritaserum_ while he was petrified, so he knew that he didn't have a choice but to tell the truth.

„I mean, what did you give me when I was—" Draco started, but Harry cut him off.

„No, what do you mean by 'you saw me in one of your dreams'?"

„I mean what I'm saying," Draco started, and even though Harry hated Draco with all of his heart, he couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for the guy. He really looked like this was very painful. Harry could only imagine how it must be to forcefully spill one's secrets to your enemy. „I saw you in a dream, and therefore I knew you were hurt," Draco said, and ran his hands through his smooth, blond hair. „What's happening?" He said with a shaky voice, and sat down on a bucket. „What have you done to me?" If Harry didn't know better, he would say Draco was on the verge of tears. He didn't get the whole dream-thing, but didn't know how long the _Veritaserum_ would last, so he decided to move on.

„How did you know what to do about my pain?" he asked.

„I've been practicing what to do in those situations since my 1st year at this stupid school," Draco said reluctantly. „You just be happy I mastered the spell last year," he mumbled and stared into the wall with an empty look. He could feel Harry's look on him like was it a spell, trying to get through his skin.

„I don't understand the whole dream-thing, Malfoy. Explain _it all_ to me," he said, and didn't know if he was asking too much. Draco slowly turned his head and looked at Harry with a begging look in his eyes. _Is that tears?_ Harry thought as he saw something glisten in the corner of Draco's eyes.

„It started when I was 11," Draco started, shaking his head and looking pleadingly at Harry. „I had this dream about my parents…" A single tear rolled down his left cheek, and he quickly dried it away.

„Stop," Harry said, not able to take it any longer. „Just explain the situation with me. That'll do." He had never seen Draco cry before, and had never thought he would. Now that it was happening, he felt his conscience screaming in his head to let the poor guy go.

„If I see people in my dreams I hurt them in real life," Draco said and looked down at the dirty floor. „I fell asleep in the train. I was careless in my dream. I woke up and knew I was the only one who could make the pain go aw—" the last word disappeared as he sobbed quietly. „Tell me what you've done to me," he said. Harry barely heard the last thing Draco said. He was too occupied trying to process what he had just been told. _If I see people in my dreams I hurt them in real life, _Harry thought, going through the sentence in his head, not able to wrap his head around it.

„I don't understand. How is that possible?" Harry whispered.

„It's a power I've got. I was born with it, but it doesn't show itself before you're eleven years old. It affects the people you see in your dreams." Draco stared emotionless out in the small room. „Please let me go," he said, his voice cracking at the last word. „I have to see Snape," he whispered, trying not to use his full voice. Harry felt as though all the blood left his body, and he stared terrified at Draco. _Snape._ He hadn't even thought about the consequences of doing this. What if Draco told on him? _Stupid question,_ what was he going to do _when_ Draco told on him?

„You can't tell anyone about this," Harry said harshly. „_Anyone_."

„I _have_ to," Draco murmured.

„If you tell anyone about this, I will tell people about that little secret of yours," Harry said, and felt nasty by saying it. He almost felt obligated to say 'sorry', but instead just watched as Draco hid his face in his hands. Never had Harry thought the reason would be this serious a thing.

„Fine," Draco said clearly, and removed his hands from his face.

„Seriously?" Harry asked before he could stop himself.

„I don't really have a choice," Draco hissed.

„Go, then," Harry said, not sure how to end it. Was Draco really going to keep quiet about this? He pointed his wand at the door and a blue light surrounded it before it disappeared. „Go." Draco looked intensely at Harry before opening the door and swiftly slipping out. He stopped as he had taken a step and looked back at Harry, the warm feeling in his stomach reappearing before quickly fading.

„Not a word about this to anyone, okay?" Draco said, ashamed of what had happened, and as Harry nodded, he walked off towards Snape's office.

* * *

**Don't worry, you'll get a more descriptive explanation about what's going on with Draco later in the fic!  
And thank you so much for reading! :D**


	5. Chapter 5

Draco wanted most of all to forget about the thing that had just happened. The fact that Harry had used a potion on him that made him unable to lie, made him feel like his whole body was thrice its weight. The thrilling, almost ticklish feeling he had felt rush through his veins almost scared him more though. He threw the thought aside and blamed the liquid he had been forced to drink.  
He had a hard time dragging his suddenly exhausted legs towards Snape's office, but after a bit of wandering, he reached the familiar door. As he knocked, he wondered whether he should tell Snape what had just happened. It was only when Snape opened the door and stared penetrating at him, he realised how late he was.

„You're late," Snape said and opened the door to show Draco inside. Harry's words ran through his mind and he tried not to look too nervous. _„I will tell people about that little secret of yours." _

„I lost track of time," Draco said and sat down on a stool placed in front of Snape's desk. „I fell asleep, actually." Snape himself sat down on his own chair in front of Draco.

„Did you _dream_?" Asked Snape. He said the last word as if it could hurt him.

„Yes," Draco mumbled. „But I didn't see anyone." He looked uncomfortably at Snape and stood up as he did, too.

„Mr. Malfoy, we will practice _Somnium Obturatio_ again," Snape said. „And this time you will _wake up_." He crossed his arms, having the sleeves hang all the way down to the end of his robes.

„Alright," Draco said. He wanted to practice the spell again, as he longed for the day he would master it, but on the other hand it was very exhausting, and after the situation with Harry, not even fifteen minutes ago, all Draco wanted was just to go back to his dormitory and relax.

„Concentrate, Draco," Said Snape and pulled out his wand. Draco did too and took a deep breath before putting up the tip of his wand to his head and muttering: „_Somnium obturatio._" Snape pointed his wand at Draco and a bright light emerged slowly from it, surrounding everything turning black, and realised he had closed his eyes.

He had no idea how much time had passed when he suddenly found himself walking towards the Gryffindor tower. He didn't think much of the fact that, just before he had been in Snape's office, he just kept walking. He started realising he might be dreaming as he walked up to a big picture of a fat lady and opened his mouth to say a word he didn't know the meaning of. As he talked no sound came out, but despite that, the painting swung open and Draco was absolutely certain now that he was dreaming. He didn't step inside the common room, afraid of what this dream might turn into, or who he might meet, instead he turned around and closed his eyes, focusing his thoughts on Snape's office where he now knew he had fallen asleep. _Wake up!_ He thought, but as he opened his eyes he was still at the Gryffindor tower.

„Draco?" He instantly closed his eyes, doing everything to avoid seeing someone, and tried to recognise the voice. „What are you doing here?" The voice said a bit harsh, and now Draco recognised it.

„Potter," he whispered, surprised to find his voice having returned . _Wake up!_ He thought once again, and tried concentrating. _Wake up! _Nothing had happened as he opened his eyes though. Suddenly the floor started to shake, and he quickly held on to the rails on the staircase. He heard Harry mumbling something in the background, but ignored it as the floor started to crack and a bright green light shone through, hurting his eyes. _Wake up!_ He thought and backed up towards the painting, but instead bumped into the wall. „Get out of my way, Potter," Draco said, not sure where Harry was.

The staircase now started to break and Draco sensed shadows everywhere around him, trying to get him to walk down into the bright light. _Wake up! _He walked away from the wall, backing into the common room, almost tripping over the step. _Wake up!_ The whole staircase now fell off and everything around him turned dark, the only light source being what Draco somehow knew was the curse _Avada Kedavra_ shining through the floors, breaking everything on its way.

The shadows around him told him to go down there. To jump into the light. He wanted to. _Wake up._ He was going to. He took a step forward and dried off a few drops of sweat from his forehead before taking another step. _Wake up!_ He demanded inside his head. He took another step, and then one more getting close to the edge. _Wake up_, _wake up_, _please wake up!_ He begged, and felt himself bending his knees, ready to jump down into the abyss of death. The second he set off from the ground he shouted as loud as his lungs would let him: „_Wake up_!" Draco clenched his eyes and opened them. Relief blossomed in his chest as he found himself lying on the hard floor in Snape's office.

„I did it," Draco whispered, as he sat up, feeling like he had just run a marathon. His whole body was aching and he could feel sweat rolling down his forehead. He dried it off with his sleeve and looked up at Snape who looked as tired as he always did after they had practiced. He had to keep his spell going for as long as he wanted Draco to be asleep, and it was a long and hard process. „I did it," Draco repeated.

„You still need a lot of practice," Snape said and sat down on his chair.

„It's the first time I've ever managed to do it," Draco said, ignoring what he said. Snape pressed his lips together, before making a small, awkward smile that vanished as fast as it appeared.

„Well done," Said Snape. Draco had quickly forgotten about the previous event with Harry and stood up, smiling satisfied. He didn't even care that he could barely stand up, that his legs felt like jelly.

* * *

**The new chapter will be up very soon!  
Thanks for your reviews and thanks for reading, I _really_ appreciate it! ^_^**


	6. Chapter 6

Harry woke up early that Monday. He hadn't been able to sleep properly all night, and had kept waking up time after time. At one point he had had a dream about Ron trying to chop down a tree with his shoe, and when he had woken up he had looked over at his best friend who was safe asleep. He wondered what it must be like to wake up every morning, scared of having hurt someone in your dreams.

Even though he hadn't gotten much rest, he didn't feel tired at all. He couldn't stop thinking about what Draco had told him the previous day. The dream he had started speaking of, about his parents, had captivated his curiosity. Before, he couldn't get himself to ask more questions, but now he regretted he hadn't. He had run out of _Veritaserum_, and didn't dare steal more. He fantasised about all the possible endings to his story, but doubted any of them were real.

* * *

Draco slowly opened his eyes and was pleased to realise he couldn't remember his dream from that night. If he couldn't remember it, no one would get hurt. He sat up too fast, and felt the room starting to spin. He yawned and looked at the clock. 5am.

„Draco?" Said Kurt's sleepy voice from the dark.

„What?" Draco whispered and stood up.

„Whatchu doin'?" Kurt asked, and Draco couldn't help but smile slightly by the sound of Kurt's drowsy voice.

„Can't sleep. Going down to the common room," he said and walked out of the dormitory before Kurt could reply. He sat down on the couch and closed his eyes. _Silence,_ he thought and enjoyed the sound of nothing. No one breathing, no one snoring, not a single sound was disturbing Draco's mind. He had needed thatsince he got back from Snape's last night, but as the common room often was filled with students till late night, he decided to go to bed instead. His head would still spin with concern whenever he thought about the time in the cupboard with Harry. He tried not to think about it, but it seemed the harder he tried the more he did.

* * *

A week later, Kurt woke up early by the sound of someone in his dormitory squirming around in their bed. He lazily sat up and squinted his eyes, trying to see through the dark. He could discern three calm beds in the room, duvets going up and down as their owners breathed. But as he took a look at the bed farthest away he saw the duvet being thrown on and off and kicked around. It took him a while before he realised it was Draco's bed because of the tiredness overwhelming him. As he saw the bright, blond hair, obvious in the blackness of the night, fear jolted through him. He practically fell out of his bed, trying to get out. He pushed himself up, oblivious to how weak he always felt in the morning, and ran to Draco's bed. As he came closer he could hear Draco moaning quietly, with a painful look on his face. He put his hands on Draco's arms and shook him rather violently.

„Draco!" Hissed Kurt, scared to speak too loud and wake up the others. Draco frowned in his sleep and kicked Kurt right under the hip. Kurt grimaced as the pain lanced through his legs. „Draco!" he repeated. He noticed sweat on his best friend's forehead and decided to do what he knew was necessary for him to wake up. He lifted his hand and clenched his right eye closed, as he slapped Draco in the face. Draco's eyes instantly opened and his body became much calmer. Kurt took a deep breath and dried away the sweat off Draco's forehead with his sleeve, before he was completely conscious. „You okay?" Draco looked at him, fear in his eyes.

„What is this?" He whispered with a shaky voice. Kurt looked worried at him. „Am I dreaming?!" Draco hissed and instinctively closed his eyes.

„No, no, you're not!" Kurt whispered and put a hand on his friend's arm to calm him down. „Are you okay?" Draco opened his eyes and looked at Kurt like he didn't really see him, and slowly nodded.

„Bad dream," he mumbled and sat up in bed, wrapping his arms around his legs.

„What about?" Kurt said, sitting down beside him.

„Doesn't matter."

„Come," whispered Kurt and took Draco by the arm, pulling him out of their dormitory and up to the empty common room. He sat down on the couch, Draco, slightly unwillingly, joining him. „What was your dream about?"

„Nothing special," Draco murmured, avoiding eye contact.

„Draco," Kurt said, and forced his friend to look at him, by cupping his cheek with his right hand, before continuing, „You can tell me." For a moment they just sat, staring at each other. It wasn't before Draco suddenly became aware of the fact that Kurt's hand was still on his face, he moved. He removed the hand, and took a deep breath.

„I don't want to go into details," he said and Kurt nodded understanding, „But I had a dream about my mother," he said as quiet as possible, somehow hoping Kurt wouldn't hear it.

„Your mother," Kurt whispered, not sure what to say. Draco's mother had died in his first year at Hogwarts, and he had never really spoken about it, and whenever the subject would become relevant, Draco had always ended up avoiding it in some way or another. Kurt wasn't sure what he could say in this situation, as he didn't want to 'scare' away Draco, when he finally opened up a little. „What about her?" Kurt asked as gently as possible. Draco looked doubting at Kurt before talking.

„She was being murdered. And I couldn't do anything about it," he said. „Not a single thing." There was an uncomfortable pause.

„I know what it's like to have dreams where you're totally helpless," Kurt said.

„I doubt it's the same feeling as the one I had," Draco said, sadness flooding his veins. Kurt pushed back his curiosity and kept quiet. Sorrow reflected in Draco's eyes, and Kurt felt awkward, not knowing what to do. He put a comforting hand on Draco's back.

„If you want to talk about it," Kurt started, fixing his look at a dark spot on the couch. „I'm here. You know that, right? I'm here for you." Draco nodded, then shook his head.

„It's just a dream, Kurt," he said flatly. „I think I'll manage." Kurt sighed.

„I'm not just talking about the dream," he said. There was an edge to his voice Draco was unaccustomed to. „You've been acting odd in the past week or so."  
Draco's head had started hurting, and he wasn't sure how to respond to Kurt's observation. It was true though. He hadn't been himself. After he had spilled his biggest secret to Harry Potter, he had been paranoid and careful around people.

„I-" He began, but Kurt cut him off.

„Also, you've been especially odd when Potter is around," Kurt said, keeping an eye on Draco's reaction. „Whenever there's a chance to make fun of him, which I happen to know you enjoy, you just keep quiet," he continued. „Whenever you walk past each other in the hallways you ignore him completely, and him, you," he said. „I've been meaning to ask you about this for some time, but couldn't quite find the right moment." He looked intensely at Draco, hoping his face expression would reveal something. Anything. „What's going on with you two?"

„I can't tell you," Draco said. He kept his face expressionless, even as his stomach knotted painfully. „I can't tell _anyone_," he added as he saw Kurt's hurt face expression. He pressed his fingers against his temples and massaged them, trying to make a sudden pain in his head disappear.

„Please," Kurt whispered. „You've been miserable this past week," Draco was about to protest, but a sharp gesture from Kurt cut him off. „I _know you_, Draco. You _have_ been miserable. More than usual," he added. „And I can't stand to see you like this. And now I wake up at Merlin-knows how early, to find you having _another_ nightmare," he said, an odd note in his voice. „I'm worried about you."

„Don't be," Draco said, his headache threatening to drown his thoughts. „There's nothing you can do about it, so just... Forget it."

„'Forget it'?" Kurt asked astounded.

„Forget it," he repeated quietly. Hopelessness filled him, and he slowly slid off the couch, sinking to the floor, practically hugging himself. Kurt slipped down on the floor a bit after, and wrapped his arms around Draco.

„Okay," he whispered, instinctively putting his head on Draco's shoulder. „I'm sorry."

* * *

Two days later, Blaine had just sat down to eat dinner as Dumbledore stepped forward and bellowed: „Everyone, get up!" Joy reflected in his eyes, and he was smiling gently at all the students. „Let's sing the school song!" The fixed smiles on the teachers, and the sighs from some of the students quickly appeared, but Blaine didn't care, nor did Dumbledore. He waved his wands and the golden ribbon flew out of it, shaping the words of the song. „Pick your favourite tune!" he said, „Let's start!"

The students started singing, some more enthusiastically than others. Blaine barely noticed it, though; all he could think about was the voice he had heard last time they had sung the school song. Every meal that had not started with the school song had made his heart sink, but now was his chance. _Finally. _After a second or so, the voice joined in, and Blaine felt his heart skip a beat. He forgot about his own singing, as he quickly skimmed his own table. As he realised the voice came from a lot farther away, he looked past the Hufflepuff's and directly at the Slytherin table.

His stomach launched with nerves as the voice stopped, the same time as a beautiful boy with chestnut coloured hair, delicate features and blue eyes stopped singing to laugh at something Draco Malfoy had said. He seemed eager to sing again though, and as he opened his mouth to sing, the voice reappeared, leaving Blaine breathless.

As they reached the last line of the song, Blaine quickly looked away, the image of the beautiful Slytherin-boy stuck in his mind.  
He knew that had the boy been in Gryffindor, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, he would've just went over and talked to him after dinner, but he had his experience with Slytherins, and wasn't sure whether this guy was approachable or not.  
As they all sat down to enjoy their meal, he came up with a really simple test to find out whether this boy was as vile as his friend, Draco Malfoy.

As dinner reached its end, Blaine noticed the boy with the chestnut coloured hair leaving his seat, alongside Draco Malfoy. Blaine patted Luna on the back and said, „I'm gonna go back to the common room and finish that book, alright?" She smiled at him and nodded. He walked up to the door, following the boy with his eyes. The second the boy and Draco had passed the door and was about to enter a big hallway, Blaine pretended to look somewhere else and "accidentally" bumped into him.

Kurt was on his way out of the Great Hall with Draco, approaching the hallway leading to their common room, as a Ravenclaw student with dark, curly hair and brown eyes bumped into him. The Ravenclaw was wearing a blue and bronze striped bowtie instead of a tie like the other students.

„Oh, sorry!" The student said, looking quite apologetic.

„That's okay," said Kurt and couldn't help but smile gently at him. Something about his aura made him feel less irritated than he normally would be if someone had bumped into him. He was about to turn back to Draco and walk on, as the Ravenclaw put out his hand.

„I'm Blaine," he said and flashed Kurt a wide smile.

A twinkle sprang into his dark brown eyes and made the depth of them seem endless. Kurt only then noticed how handsome the Ravenclaw was. His jawline seemed as if it would be beautifully defined if not his smiled had been so great, it was scrunching up his face in a surprisingly attractive manner. Small wrinkles appeared by his eyes, alongside his smile. Thick, dark eyelashes were pressing softly against his crease, and above them bushy, yet tamed, almost triangular eyebrows rested. Somewhere inside of him, Kurt wished the boy wasn't beaming at him so he could study his face further without the distraction of his smile.

„I, er-" Kurt said, about to put out his hand to shake the Ravenclaw student's hand, but Draco grabbed it and pulled him back, saying, „have to go," jealousy and annoyance colouring his voice. It was as if Kurt had been ripped out of a dream, and for a moment everything around him seemed alien. Draco pulled him out of the crowd and down the hallway, away from Blaine.

Blaine watched as Draco Malfoy pulled away the boy, not sure how to feel. He could barely remember what he had done. The soft smile that had touched the lips of the Slytherin boy, as he had answered Blaine, had not further helped him consider his actions. His mind was slightly blurry, but when a Slytherin student with short, dirty-blonde hair bumped into him, telling him to get out of the way and bugger off, he got ripped out of his thoughts. Then a hand grabbed him by the arm and pulled him towards a wall, away from the other students. He smiled as he saw the familiar brown, straight hair with the hairband, and the friendly eyes, looking at him.

„Rachel!" he said and hugged his sister. „Long time no see."

„I just wanted to say hi," she said and brushed a bit of cloth fibre away from his robes. It was only when he looked at her green and silver tie, he came to the realisation that she might know the boy with the singing voice.

„Rach, can I ask you something?"

„Sure," she said and put her hair behind her ear.

„Do you know who that guy with chestnut coloured hair, blue eyes and pale skin is?" She squinted her eyes, thinking, but grinned at him as he added, „He's a friend of Draco Malfoy's."

„Oh! Are you talking about Kurt?" she asked, a teasing tone in her voice.

„How would I know?"

„Well I bet that's him," she said and smiled. „He's a good friend of mine, really."

„Really?" Blaine asked her, not certain of why he sounded so enthusiastic about it.

„Mhmm," she said, and put her hands in her robes pockets. „How come?"

„Just wondering," he mumbled, not sure how to explain the actual reason to her.

„Just wondering?"

„Yes."

„Right," she said, and Blaine knew she didn't believe him. _And why would she?_ He mused. _It's a rubbish reason._

„I'm kinda wondering about another thing, too," Blaine murmured. Rachel smirked self-satisfied and gestured him to go on. „Have you ever heard him sing?"

„Kurt?" She asked.

„Yeah."

„Well, we sang a Christmas song together last year, but he doesn't do it that often, but when he _does_, I mean—" She suddenly stopped talking and her face split into a smile, and there was a flicker of excitement in her eyes.

„What?" Blaine asked, anxiety twisting his gut.

„You've heard him sing!" She stated, pointing at him.

„Don't do that," he said quietly and pushed away her finger.

„That's why you wanted to know about him," she said, ignoring what he had said. „And now that you've heard him sing, he interests you." Blaine kept quiet. „He has an amazing voice, doesn't he?" _More than amazing_, he thought, but suppressed the thought and simply nodded.

Draco let go of Kurt's hand the second they had gotten out of the crowd, and the Ravenclaw student was far behind them.

„Hey!" Kurt said, a bit shriller than he had expected. „What are you doing?"

„Walking towards the common room?" Draco replied flippantly. He kept walking, even though Kurt did the opposite.

„Draco," he said firmly. Draco sighed and turned around to face him. „What was that for?" he asked.

„What was what for?"

„You know what I'm talking about," Kurt answered.

„He was just a Ravenclaw student, what's the big issue?" Draco said with a strained voice. „I just helped you out of it before—" he began, but a sharp gesture from Kurt cut him off.

„I'm sorry, '_helped me out'_?" he said, taking a small step back. „I can take care of myself, thank you very much." Draco sighed and closed his eyes for a bit longer than a standard blink. Kurt suddenly seemed distant and he spoke in a very soft voice. „I think he was Rachel's brother." He remembered her having pointed him out in the crowd a few times in the past years.

„Who cares?" Draco snapped, and turned around to walk on.

„Hey," Kurt said, fixing his look on Draco, who once again rotated to face Kurt. „You okay?"

„Why wouldn't I be?" Draco said dismissively.

„I know what you're like towards others, but you're usually not like this towards me," Kurt mumbled. Confusion burned in Draco's blue eyes as he considered his answer. „You know that thing I said a few days ago?" Kurt saw the panic and shame flood across Draco's face as he remembered the night he had had the nightmare. Kurt took the three steps separating them, and placed a hand on Draco's arm. „I still mean it. I'm here for you, if you'll ever need it," he said, trying to mimic the tone Draco always used when trying to comfort Kurt. As he had predicted Draco didn't reply. A ghost of a smile touched his lips though, and that was enough for Kurt.

* * *

Blaine retreated to his dormitory later that night, while everyone else was still wandering about the castle, talking or hanging out in the common room. He hadn't been able to get the Slytherin boy out of his head all day, and a song from _Les Misérables_ was stuck in his mind. He was afraid to say the lyrics out loud, as he was trying to convince himself the instant connection he had felt with the Slytherin was just a fabrication of his imagination.

He sat down on his bed and pulled off his shoes, unconsciously humming the melody to _I Saw Him Once_. He closed his eyes and let the song take over his mind and body, enjoying the music, which so often was suppressed when living in this castle, within him.

[Lyrics to the song he's singing: les-miserables-motion-picture-cast-lyrics-i-saw-hi m-once-london-wp7zbzt (they're not written in the fic because of copyright and that stuff)]

As he finished the song, he breathed out and closed his eyes for a second. _Can people fall in love so soon?_ He repeated the one line in his head and ran a hand over his hair, the curls gracefully sliding through his fingers. He wondered when he would get to see him next.


	7. Chapter 7

Draco and Kurt were having dinner, talking about their plans for the weekend as Snape came up to them.

„Mr Malfoy, I have a very important issue to discuss with you," he said. „My office tomorrow, 5pm." Draco nodded, and watched as he walked off. Kurt had through time learned to keep quiet after Snape had said such things to Draco, and just focused on the piece of toast he was eating.

* * *

Draco was walking into the Dark Forest, following the scent of a fresh baked cauldron cakes. The second he stepped into the forest, he felt as if the darkness was wrapping itself around him like a blanket, trying to suffocate him. Draco, aware of the fact that it was a dream, repeated the usual phrase „Wake up," inside his head before a branch fell down from a tree and just before it hit the ground, went upwards and towards Draco, until it hit him in the stomach, punching the air out of him. He gasped, and for once appreciated that he was numb to pain in his dreams. As disorientated as he was, he didn't even notice light footsteps approaching ahead. He was instinctively rubbing his stomach, looking at it like it'd help him breathe normally again, repeating the phrase 'wake up' inside his head.  
As he heard leaves on the ground scatter, he looked up, only to see Kurt standing in front of him, with a bashful of freshly baked cauldron cakes. „_WAKE UP,_" he yelled to himself, and suddenly felt the whole scenery dissolve. He woke up and almost threw himself out of his bed, running towards Kurt's. Halfway across the room, Kurt suddenly opened his eyes and a painful expression flooded his flawless face.

Kurt woke up by the feeling of something poking him in the side. As he opened his eyes, the feeling no longer felt like a poking, more like a stabbing, or hammering. Maybe both. Suddenly Draco was by his side, desperately trying to make out some words. It felt as if a bunch of needles rushed through Kurt's veins, as Draco frantically mouthed the word „wand". He stood up and ran back to his bed to pick up his wand. Half blind with pain Kurt curled up on his bed, grimacing as another shot of needles appeared. Fear engulfed him as he struggled to stay conscious. Was this how he was going to die? Pain erupted in his legs, making him feel paralyzed. Everything slowly turned darker than it already was, and he could barely discern Draco tripping over the leg of the bed and falling over, landing on the floor.

Draco quickly sat up, and pointed his wand at Kurt. Tears were rolling down his cheeks, as a sense of horrible loss bled through him.

„Kurt!" Draco said, hoping his friend had enough energy left to keep eye contact for a single second. He could see Kurt was struggling to keep his eyes open, and Draco hadn't felt this helpless for almost 6 years. „Kurt, _look at me, damn it!" _he yelled, not giving a damn about the possibility of waking up the whole room. Kurt fixed his gaze at Draco for a second, and Draco quickly mumbled, „_Retexamus somniare._" It was like the whole world kept quiet for a second, just to watch the two of them. As if everyone held their breath for a second, and everything and everyone just went numb. The orange bubbled hovered for a bit before disappearing into Kurt's stomach. A shadow removed itself from Kurt's eyes, and he finally _saw_ Draco.

„What just—" Kurt began, but a coughing fit interrupted him, and he quietly sat up in bed, sweat glistening on his forehead. „What just happened?" the words hoarse and rough. Draco only now realised that tears were still streaming down his face. He dried them off with his sleeve and did his best at holding back the fresh ones. Draco was both happy and surprised none of the others at their dormitory had awoken. Kurt turned his head and looked at Draco, a mix of appreciation and fright filling his blue eyes. „What did you do?" Draco shook his head and felt his stomach getting heavier and heavier for every second that passed. „You can't get out of this one, Draco," Kurt said, his trembling voice sending stabs of pain into Draco's chest.

„I don't know how to—" Words failed him as he felt hot tears roll down his cheeks.

„We have enough time," Kurt said, sounding a bit more scared than he had wanted to. „Let's go up to the common room." He slid down to the floor and wrapped an arm around Draco's waist, pulling him up. „Come on," he whispered as he practically dragged him out of the dormitory and up into the common room. He placed himself on the couch besides Draco and looked expectantly at him. He had finally stopped crying, and the tears had left a crusty trail on his cheeks. His eyes seemed distant, and his face expressionless, except for his lips, which twitched occasionally. „Draco." He lifted his head slightly, looking at something behind Kurt. „What just happened?"

„I," He began, but stopped as he felt tears appear in the corner of his eyes. Kurt took Draco's hand in his own and gently squeezed it. „I had this dream," he said and watched as Kurt wrinkled his eyebrows. „And you were in it." It was as if a gray cloud covered his eyes, making him see something Kurt couldn't. „Why didn't I notice," he mumbled, and held back more tears.

„Okay," Kurt mumbled and moved his hands to Draco's back. „Take a deep breath."

Draco was having trouble breathing past the lump in his throat, which was so hard it hurt. He tried his best at taking a deep breath, before making eye contact with Kurt.

„Are you okay?" Kurt whispered, and he nodded weakly. „So can you please tell me what's going on?"

„Yeah," Draco mumbled, knowing he didn't have a choice. „I had a dream about you," he said, finding it easier to talk if he fixed his look on his hand in Kurt's, pretending Kurt couldn't hear him. „And when I see someone in my dream, I…" he took a deep breath before continuing. „I hurt them in real life."

„What?" Kurt asked, not sure he understood.

„I have this 'gift'. If I dream about someone and I _touch _them, I, I kill them in real life. And if I _see_ someone, I just make them suffer. Like you just did." He eyed Kurt who was staring at him with big eyes.

He was speechless. Disbelief roared through his mind as he tried to reject Draco's words.

„How do you kn—How is this even possible, I, I've never heard—" he was having a hard time finishing his sentences, as questions exploded inside his head.

„I found out when I was eleven years old. It was my first year at Hogwarts," Draco said, feeling paralyzed.

„But—How?" Every time blood pulsed through Kurt's head it brought a fresh wave of confusion. Draco kept quiet. „I don't understand," Kurt mumbled.

„I—" Draco began, a hollow laugh escaping his lips. „I get help from Snape to handle this… Thing. '_Vita Reali' _is it called. It affects the people in my dreams, and I can't do anything to prevent it. I can help myself waking up, but that's all I can do. I have to put a spell on my mind every day before I go to bed so I'm able to wake up if I try hard enough. The gift is only visible once you turn eleven. Mine showed itself on my fifth day on Hogwarts. Dumbledore was the one who found out about it, he noticed some signs pointing in the direction of _Vita Reali_. He made Snape help me out with all of this, as he's the teacher who knows most about this… Thing.

„The spell I used on you, _retexamus somniare, _makes the pain I caused disappear. I only just mastered that spell last year. I'm still having trouble with _somnium obturatio_, which is the spell that makes me able to distinguish what is dream and what is real life. It also makes the chances at waking up easier for me." He picked every word with care, and spoke them clearly so he never had to repeat them again. A thousand new questions instantly appeared inside Kurt's mind. One question bothered him a lot though.

„Why haven't you told me all this before?" He sounded hurt, yet the worry was clear in his voice. Draco shrugged, keeping his face expressionless.

„How would it help?" Kurt was about to protest, before realising he was right.

„How did Dumbledore find out about all this?" Draco gently shook his head, not replying. Kurt almost objected, not seeing why he couldn't just tell him, but dropped the thought as the corner of Draco's eyes started glistening with tears. _Apparently a touchy subject,_ Kurt thought and studied Draco's impassive face, looking for what he could not tell.

„I'm sorry," Draco whispered. „I never meant to harm you." Kurt sighed.

„Just make sure not to touch me in a dream," he said, and felt satisfied as amusement raised the corners of Draco's lips.


	8. Chapter 8

As more and more students started coming through the common room to walk to the Great Hall for breakfast, Kurt and Draco decided to follow their idea and do the same. They had basically talked all night about Draco's powers, and Kurt felt like he knew all the basic details, except for _how_ Draco discovered it.

As they had eaten, Draco went back to the common room, but Kurt told him he had to catch up on something in _Ancient Runes_, and slipped into the almost empty library. He had no intentions of studying _Ancient Runes_, but didn't feel comfortable telling Draco the actual reason.

He had intended to find a book concerning this _Vita Reali_ and make out all the details Draco couldn't tell him.

He walked up to a shelf and examined one book after another. Nothing in _'Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions', 'Where's There's a Wand, There's a Way', 'The Dark Arts: A Legal Companion'_, or any of '_the Standard Book of Spells'_ books. It wasn't even as much as mentioned in '_Powers You Never Knew You Had and What To Do With Them Now You've Wised Up'_. He practically threw the book back on the shelf, and looked towards the Restricted Section. He sighed and walked on, reaching the last shelf of the library. He was so focused on the titles of the books, that he didn't notice a student sitting on a chair in the corner farthest away, reading '_Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charmes'._

Blaine was sitting in the library, reading a book by E. Linus hoping to learn some new charms, as a flash of movement disturbed his gaze. He looked up from his book and felt his heart skip a beat as he saw whom it was. Only five meters away from him stood the boy from Slytherin, who he had heard sing the other day. He waited a few minutes to see if Draco Malfoy would come running after him, but as nothing happened, he decided to take a chance and speak up.

„Looking for something special?" he asked, feeling himself blush by the uncertainty in the volume of his voice.

Kurt had gone through the titles of the books at least three times now, still without any luck. „Looking for something special?" a voice from the corner farthest away asked. He turned his head to see the handsome Ravenclaw student from the other day sit on a chair with a book in his hand. He suppressed a smile and returned his focus to the books.

„Not really," Kurt mumbled, just loud enough for Blaine to hear it. He could discern Blaine gingerly getting up from the chair in the corner of his eye.

„Well, what are you searching for?" Blaine asked, approaching Kurt.

„I'm not sure," Kurt said and sighed. Blaine raised an eyebrow, placing his book on a table linked to the bookshelf. „I—Something about, er," he began but wasn't sure how to explain. He turned to face Blaine. „Have you ever heard about something called _Vita Reali_?" Blaine looked at him with a suspicious look in his eyes. Whereas his lips had been stretched into a smile the last time Kurt saw him, they were now natural though slightly parted in thought. He noticed how especially his upper lip curved in a way that somehow managed to adorn his every feature.

„What do you know about _Vita Reali_?" Blaine queried and frowned.

„I, er, nothing, really," Kurt said a bit flustered. „I just heard about it somewhere, and thought it sounded interesting."

„It's some pretty questionable stuff," Blaine mumbled, the flicker of a smirk on his lips.

„So you do know about it?" Kurt asked curiously.

„I came across the illness once."

„Illness?" Kurt asked, suddenly feeling as if someone had dropped a rock down his throat and it was now growing bigger and heavier inside his stomach.

„Yeah," Blaine said. „But it was in a book from the Restricted Section. You'll need a written permission from a teacher."

„Great." Kurt scoffed and let a hand run over his hair.

Blaine watched as Kurt ran a hand over his hair, and wasn't sure how long he had stared before he spoke.

„I can get it for you." Confusion washed over Kurt's face, before a small smile appeared.

„How?" Blaine reached into his left robe pocket and drew out a folded-up piece of paper.

„I got this from Flitwick," he said, keeping his eyes at Kurt's. He could've sworn they were baby blue all the way through only a minute ago, though now they had more of a green sparkle in them. „I used to often ask him about permission to borrow a book from the Restricted Section. In the end he just wrote down a permanent slip. I guess he really trusts me." Kurt's face split into a smile, and Blaine felt a measure of satisfaction coursing through him. „But the book is filled with very dark magic. I'd advice you to only read about that one illness, and then put it away." Kurt nodded and beamed at him. Blaine turned around to get to the Restricted Section, but stopped as he felt Kurt's hand on his arm. He rotated to face him. Kurt was holding out a hand.

„I'm Kurt," he said gentle, smirking like only a Slytherin could. _I know_, Blaine thought, and took his hand, about to shake it. The second their hands met, hot blood rushed to his face and he felt his skin go hot and cold and crawl with excitement. It felt as if the single second their hands were linked went in slow motion. Blaine noticed the ghost of an almost startled look creep upon Kurt's face, before he concealed his emotions behind an impassive expression. He didn't have time to think about it before Kurt quickly pulled back his hand.

Blaine said, „I'll, er, I'll go get the book, wait here."

Kurt watched as Blaine walked away, a feeling he had never felt before washing over him. It was as if his whole body became as light as a feather, and the rock in his stomach had instantly disappeared. Confusion and fascination kindled in his expression, and only now felt himself blush. Under his breath he cursed his pale skin, and prayed that Blaine hadn't noticed his cheeks reddening. He tried to shake off the feeling, by walking up and down the space there was behind the bookshelf, but it stuck to him like glue. He saw Blaine coming back with a large book in faded black leather, and eyed it with interest.

„There you go. '_Secrets of the Darkest Arts'_," Blaine said as Kurt grabbed the book and brushed off some dust off its cover.

„Thanks," Kurt said, nodding thankfully at Blaine before walking up to a couch placed by the wall. He sat down and opened the book, letting his fingers run over the fragile pages as he read the titles. Horrifying pictures met his eye, and he barely noticed as Blaine sat down beside him, opening his own book.


	9. Chapter 9

**I am really sorry for the long wait for this chapter, but I'm having a really irritating writer's block. Sorry!**

* * *

Draco had wanted to wait for Kurt to return to their dormitory before heading towards Snape's office, but time passed and Kurt hadn't come back from the library. He went out of the Slytherin common room a bit before 5pm, and walked till he reached Snape's office.

He knocked on the door, and never before had Snape opened it that fast.

„In," Snape said, an unfamiliar tone in his voice. Draco hurried inside, and sat down on the usual chair, following his professor with his eyes.

„What's—"

„No," Snape cut him off with a sharp gesture. „_I'll _talk, and then you can ask questions afterwards." Draco nodded to show he had understood. Snape sat down behind his desk, and examined Draco's face. „Lucius… Your father," he began, not moving a muscle. „Has told The Dark Lord about your powers." Draco felt as if all the blood in his body disappeared, and his heart was pumping twice as fast to make up for it. He suppressed the questions in his head and continued to look at Snape.

„He probably did it to seem useful for a change," Snape mumbled, and Draco wished he had at least _tried_ to not offend his father. „But The Dark Lord finds you interesting now, Draco. He wants to use your powers to get the Potter boy, using Legilimency. He _is_ the most skilled Legilimens of our time, and he will use it to invade your mind and control your dreams, making sure you dream about Potter.

„However… You may be one of the most skilled Occlumens I've ever met. You got many Occlumency-skills from when Bellatrix trained you, but people with _Vita Reali_ are born with skills "professionals" can only achieve by hard work for centuries. He will have a hard time getting through your mind." Draco felt his stomach getting heavier and heavier for every word. „And because of how well you already master Occlumency, he will _practice_ until he gets through." There was a short pause, before Draco couldn't hold in a question any longer.

„Can't I just open my mind to him?" The thought of Lord Voldemort trying to get through his mind every night until he succeeded frightened him. He would choose standing face to face with a Chimaera any minute over this.

„Those who have the gift of _Vita Reali_ can not open their minds more than a Sphinx can resist a riddle or a puzzle," Snape said, obviously annoyed at Draco for not knowing more about _Vita Reali_. „You could probably lower your defences enough to make it possible for him if you really tried, but you would be foolish to do such a thing.

„I'm not for this any more than you are, Draco, and that's why we have to practice _Somnium Obturatio_ even harder than before. If The Dark Lord tries enough times, and either can't get through, or you wake up whenever people approaches, he's bound to give up."

„But he won't give up for a long time, will he? How long do I have to resist it?" Snape stared at Draco, almost looking concerned.

„I do not know," he finally said and stood up, indicating Draco to do the same. He walked around his desk and placed himself in front of Draco. „You need to _focus_," Snape said and took out his wand. „Really _focus_." Draco nodded and pulled out his own wand, placing the tip of it against his right temple.

„_Somnium Obturatio,_" Draco mumbled. Snape pointed his wand at Draco and a soft light emerged from it, surrounding him. _Focus_, Draco thought and closed his eyes, feeling the sleep taking over.

* * *

Kurt was looking in '_Secrets of the Darkest Arts'_, Blaine sitting beside him, as he found the page he was looking for.

„_Vita Reali_," he mumbled, reading the headline out loud. He let three fingers run over the page, before reading it.

_"V__ita Reali (first seen in 1843) is an illness found mostly in pure-blood wizarding families. A person suffering from Vita Reali is known as a Vita. The illness is very serious, and can cause pain and/or death to those close to the person suffering from it. It is inside one's body their entire life, but is triggered (by a still unknown mechanism in the body) the day the Vita turns eleven.  
If a Vita were to dream about someone, they would harm the person outside their dreams, no matter what their actions were in the actual dreams.  
Does a Vita look at the individual in their dream, the individual will immediately wake up, having extreme pains, which – if not treated fast – will lead to death.  
Does a Vita touch the individual in their dream; the individual will die in their sleep.  
A Vita will not harm anyone if they wake up, and cannot remember their dream. No wizard so far can say why or how it is possible, but Vitas forget their dreams just like Muggles and other wizards, and if they do so, no one will get hurt in any way.  
The signs of someone dying caused by the effects of Vita Reali is:_

_- Traces of saltwater in one's veins  
__- Swollen heart  
__- Scratch marks on the inner side of one's organs (they will become visible on the victim's body two days after their death)  
__- Dark spots in one's blood_

_There are two spells which are very useful for Vitas to master. _Somnium Obturatio_ and _Retexamus Somniare_. The first mentioned spell is to help the user distinguish between dream and real life and if mastered, it will enable the user to wake up when needed. The user has to use this spell every night before sleeping, or it will not work. The second spell is the one used to remove the pain from other individuals, if the Vita has dreamt about them and seen them. It can take years to figure these spells out, as they are some of the most difficult – and most necessary – spells ever invented.  
__A Vita has a strong mind and will from birth be exceptional at Occlumency. They will not need much practice until they are more talented than those who practice their whole life._

_There are not many Vitas left in the wizarding world, and since the illness is not necessarily carried from mother/father to child, all Vitas will most likely be extinct in 30 years."_

Kurt opened the very first page and looked at the date it was published. _1933_. He closed it and scoffed.

„30 years my arse," he murmured, forgetting that Blaine could hear him.

„What?" Blaine asked him, hiding a chuckle.

„Nothing," Kurt said and stared impassively at the leather-cover of the book. He had no problem remembering every word he had just read, but had his difficulties with actually understanding them to their fullest. He had heard most of it from Draco already, but he had avoided certain subjects, and he had never spoken of it in such a descriptive way.

„Was that the information you needed?" Blaine asked carefully.

„Yeah," Kurt answered, still going through the things he had just read, in his mind.

„So what did you need it for?"

„No matter," Kurt replied, sounding more defensive than intended. „I think it's an interesting subject is all. I just wish I knew what caused the illness in the first place," Kurt said, thinking out loud.

„A dark wizard cursed a village in 1843. They didn't know what he had done to them until their friends and family started dying in front of their noses, because they had dreams about them. One of the villagers worked out two spells; _Somnium Obturatio _and _Retexamus Somniare, _which helped the remaining victims survive," Blaine said carelessly. „Some of them transmitted the illness to their children and some didn't. People back then got a lot of children, and the ones who carried the disease, most likely transmitted it to their children and so on. Sometimes it just appears on random people, though. It can hit wizard families who have never even heard about the illness." Kurt was staring fascinated at Blaine, who hadn't even hesitated once when talking.

„How do you know all this? It doesn't say so in the book," Kurt said, feeling himself blush as Blaine smiled at him.

„I've read a lot of history books, which mentions it sometimes. Put the pieces together, and you get the entire story," Blaine said and closed his own book.

„How can you remember it all?" Kurt asked, truly impressed by Blaine.

„I have a pretty good memory."

* * *

Kurt walked into the Slytherin common room at 7:30pm. He had spent the entire day in the library with Blaine. They had been talking about _Vita Reali _and other spells, illnesses etc. until they realised dinner was over. He had gone back to the Slytherin dungeon hungry, but with a smile on his lips. The common room was packed with other students, so he decided to descend to his dormitory.

As he walked down the stairs, the atmosphere got calmer and calmer, and the loud talking from the common room slowly faded out. He opened the door and paced through the room, sitting down as he reached his bed. He let his body fall down on the soft duvet, and placed his hands behind his head. He closed his eyes and let the day rush through his head in flashes. A picture of Blaine lingered in his mind for a little longer than other memories. The way he smiled at Kurt, the way his thick, curly hair would fall down in his eyes whenever he lifted his head from his book, how serious his face looked every time he read. How his eyes practically sparkled whenever he talked about something he truly found interesting, how many unknown feelings he could awaken inside Kurt. But what he loved the most was the way he felt almost consumed by the endless depths within his big, brown eyes whenever he would smile. Also something about his aura and atmosphere just made him feel comfortable. A wry smile tugged at Kurt's lips, as he wondered when he would see him again. That was until Draco burst into the dormitory, ripping Kurt out of his fantasy. He sat up and watched as Draco toppled onto his bed, moaning tiredly.

„Hard day?" Kurt asked, smiling as Draco rolled over to breathe.

„You don't know the half of it." He said it as a joke, but Kurt detected some worry in his voice.

„What have you been doing?" Draco sighed and sat up.

„I've—"

„Wait, weren't you going to Snape's today?" Draco nodded.

„Yeah, and we practiced that stupid spell the whole evening. I don't think I've ever been this exhausted."

„Did you improve?"

„No," Draco said, finding himself hating the sound of the word. He thought about telling Kurt about Lord Voldemort wanting to use him to get to Harry Potter, but decided he'd be better off not knowing. „I just want to have a good night sleep for once," Draco said, knowing it was impossible. From this night on Voldemort would try using Legilimency on him while he was asleep, which would result in his sleep being possibly even more exhausting than staying awake. There was no knowing how long Voldemort would keep it going, so his only option was to resist until it was over.

„Can I ask you something?" Kurt murmured insecure.

„Knock yourself out."

„What do you and Snape do when you're practicing?" Kurt asked curiously. Draco paused as he studied Kurt's face.

„He uses a spell that makes me fall asleep, and I practice _Somnium Obturatio_," Draco said and frowned slightly. „It's pretty exhausting. We normally never do it more than three times because my body will be drained of energy afterwards," he said.

„How many times did you do it today?" Kurt asked, concern filling his mind.

„Around five times," He let himself fall down on the bed. „I'm just going to… You know, rest my eyes."

„I'm no expert," Kurt said, feeling his stomach prickle with worry. „But shouldn't you use that spell before napping?" Draco instantly opened his eyes and took out his wand.

„_Somnium Obturatio_," he mumbled. Nothing very visible happened, but a white smoky blur covered his blue eyes for a second before disappearing. „Thanks," he said to Kurt before curling up on his bed, closing his eyes.

Kurt watched him as he slowly sank into the warm dusk that separates consciousness and sleep. His thoughts moved from Blaine to the book he had read, and the things Draco had told him about _Vita Reali_. Draco had lived with it since he was eleven years old, and would have to keep living with it for the rest of his life. He sincerely wished he could do something about it, and as he looked at Draco's calm face, he wondered if he was dreaming anything. He felt himself being more protective of Draco than before, after learning about his illness. As Draco rolled over, he tensed up and unconsciously clenched his jaw.

„You do realise I can take care of myself while I sleep, right?" Draco mumbled, feeling Kurt's look burn on his neck. There was a trace of amusement in his voice, and Kurt nodded even though Draco couldn't see him.

* * *

**As I mentioned before, I'm currently having a writer's block, so I have no idea when the next chapter will be up. /:**  
**Reviews will be *very* much appreciated, as I really really need some inspiration! Thank you! And thanks for reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

**First of all, sorry for the late update, but as I said previously, I've had a really annoying writer's block.  
I assume you've all heard about Cory, and I wasn't sure whether or not to update while we're going through this... But I found that writing helps me think of something else, and I really hope that you will enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

Draco woke up the next morning by the sounds of the guys from his dormitory getting ready for breakfast. Instead of getting up and revealing to the presences that he was not sleeping, he kept his eyes closed and listened to the noises and little sounds that emanated from the room.

„Why bother making your bed every day?" he heard Blaise Zabini's voice mumble. Someone scoffed before the crumbling noise of linen and duvet being fixed reached Draco's ear.

„None of your business," another voice said, and Draco recognised the tone as Theodore Nott. He listened as footsteps walked across the room and faded as they reached the stairs.

„Oi! You can't just leave!" Blaise said and the sound of quick footsteps following the previous ones filled up the dormitory. He could feel the floor bouncing as the boy ran past his bed. Suddenly everything went quiet. He knew he was not alone in the room yet, though, for he could still hear someone breathing softly, almost inaudible. Then someone dropped or threw something hollow and solid at the ground with a _thump_ before the quiet reigned once again. Another person left the room then without a word, but the silent breathing did not disappear.

„For how long are you planning on pretending to be asleep?" Kurt's voice sounded. Draco let out a tired moan.

„Shh," he said through his teeth. „Sleeping."

„Right," Kurt murmured, a measure of amusement colouring his voice. „I'm going to leave for breakfast, but I don't suppose you'll be joining me?" Draco shook his head against his pillow and frowned as he felt his hair getting electric, sticking to his linen. „See you later, then," Kurt said. Draco let out a faint 'yeah' in response.

Only a few minutes after his friend had left, he sighed in submission, deciding on joining him anyway, and slowly removed the warm and comfortable duvet from his body, trying to adjust to the cold bit after bit. At last he sat up. His skin wrinkled around his temples as he massaged them and took a deep breath. He had never felt this weary before, yet he was not exactly tired. His eyes were stinging with exhaustion but he could not get himself to go back to sleep. Another minute with Lord Voldemort trying to get through his mind would be insufferable. His mind was far from clear, and for a good five minutes he just sat on his bed, staring into the empty room without actually seeing it.

Kurt entered the Great Hall and quickly found a spot by the Slytherin table where he could sit somewhat alone. In front of him and a bit away, though still reachable, were plates with fried, scrambled and boiled eggs placed, alongside different plates filled with bacon, kippers, sausages and toast. There were also bowls with corn flakes and porridge. Jugs with orange and apple juice were spread across the table, and Kurt reached out to grab a piece of toast.

„You should really eat more," a voice said before the person belonging to it sat down beside Kurt.

„I thought you were sleeping," Kurt said and smirked. He turned to face Draco and only just now realised how tired he seemed. He was looking as if he wasn't entirely awake yet, and he was slightly dark under his eyes. „You look like crap," Kurt mumbled, studying Draco's face further.

„Wow, thank you," he said and cursed under his breath, when he couldn't hold back a small chuckle. „I didn't sleep very well." He made a motion with his hand as to dismiss the subject. Kurt made a small nod in response.

* * *

Kurt and Draco were walking towards their double Charms class with the Ravenclaws Monday morning. They had just passed a small hallway leading to a cupboard, when Urquhart - the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch Team - ran up to Draco's side and slowed down to follow his and Kurt's pace.

„There's Quidditch practice tomorrow, Draco," Urquhart said, letting an exhausted breath from running escape his lips. „On the field at 6pm." Draco frowned and moved his gaze to stare at his fellow Quidditch player.

„I thought Gryffindor was using the field tomorrow?" He said. He could've sworn he had heard a student talk about it last week.

„Yeah, but Snape gave us permission to let us practice because we haven't really had the opportunity yet. Gryffindor has trained since day one practically."

„Why is it again we haven't done the same?" Draco sneered. „We won't win the Quidditch Cup if you keep ignoring the team, Urquhart." He felt the annoyance build up inside his stomach, and was grateful for the hand Kurt put on his arm. He knew that Kurt did it to hold him back even if nothing happened, but it was soothing and calming to know that someone was there to even care about what he did or did not do to others and himself.

„Watch your tone, Malfoy," Urquhart said, though the intimidation in his voice couldn't even be compared to Draco's. For a bit they just stood and watched each other, letting their eyes and inner animals do the talking and roaring. It was Kurt's mild voice that brought them both back to reality.

„Draco. We have to go to class," he said and slowly removed his grip on his friend's arm.

„6pm," Urquhart said and swiftly ran up to his group of friends, leaving them to themselves.

Kurt heard Draco mumble „Idiot," under his breath, but decided to ignore it. While they had been talking, the other students had passed them. They took a few steps, trying to catch up with the others, before a shooting pain erupted in Draco's head. He suppressed a scream, but was forced to bend over in hurt. He pressed his hands against the cold floor and his face was scrunched up in pain.

„Draco!" Kurt said, practically throwing himself to the ground, only to place his hands unhelpfully on Draco's arm and shoulder, trying to support him. „What's happening?" he asked, his voice shaky with concern. But Draco wasn't even seeing Kurt.

Darkness had filled his mind, blocking his sight. A very short glimpse of a boy appeared before his eyes. A boy with dark hair and green eyes and… Black hair, green eyes and a lightning scar on his forehead. _Potter._ Behind him a snake was slithering between some rocks.

The darkness returned. He didn't need much more than that image to know that Voldemort was using Legilimency, trying to get through the barriers his mind had set up. Why would he do it now? Snape had said that he would only attempt when Draco was asleep. He wouldn't gain anything from getting through his mind by day. The darkness dissolved a few seconds later, and the pain in his head with it. If Voldemort had managed to get through an image of Harry now, would he be able to do it again tonight?

He only now felt Kurt's hand on his shoulder and arm and gingerly got up.

„What just happened?" Kurt asked, and Draco turned his head to give him a vague smirk.

„Never mind that," Draco said. Kurt removed his hands from Draco and raised his left eyebrow.

„You can't say that after something like this _suddenly _happens," he said sharply.

„It's just..." Draco began, but sighed instead of continuing as he thought about it. _What is it 'just'?_ „It's just a side-effect from _Vita Reali_," he lied and shrugged as if it was no big deal.

„Draco..."

„I'm serious, don't think about it," he added before Kurt could say more. He placed his hand on Kurt's arm and gave him what he hoped was a reassuring look.

„Are you sure?"

„I'm sure." He couldn't help but let a quiet chuckle out. „You worry too much. Come on." he removed his hand and started walking towards the other students, Kurt following him after a few seconds.

They were standing by the classroom-door, waiting for some Slytherins to go inside, when someone brushed their shoulder against Kurt's. Before he could even get the chance to react, a gentle voice whispered two words right besides his head.

„Hi, you." Despite the fact that it was merely a whisper and that he hadn't really heard the voice that much, Kurt instantly knew who it belonged it. He turned just in time to see Blaine Anderson with his adorable curly hair and bowtie pass him. A smirk played on his lips, and they linked gazes for a second before Blaine continued on, into the classroom. _Adorable,_ he thought, and felt a blush immediately appear. The corners of Kurt's mouth went up without him even noticing it, and his eyes followed the boy until he had placed himself besides a girl with long, dark blonde hair.

A girl.

That was when the thought hit him. And the hitting wasn't expected _at all_, so the mix between confusion about thinking it and the surprisingly devastating thought in itself banged way too hard on the door leading into his mind. He tried to suppress it - maybe if he didn't think the actual words, it would disappear. And it really was a stupid thought anyway, wasn't it? Why would he care about that?

But after he had been caught looking at Blaine _by _Blaine through most of the class, the thought broke through the door and spread into every corner of his mind. _What if he's straight?_

* * *

That day Harry woke up and knew that today was the day. Today was the day for him to find a way as to confront Draco and make him talk. It was impossible for him to wait much longer.

He got out of bed and put on his robes, and went down to the common room to wait for Ron to join him. He looked at the noticeboard and spotted a paper that apparently had only recently been put up. It was the dates for the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year.

„Ready?" he heard Ron say, still a few steps up the stairs.

„Yup," Harry answered and walked up to him. „Are you going to Hogsmeade this weekend?"

„Are you kidding? I'm running out of Hiccough Sweets and Sugar Quills – I need to go to Zonko's stat." Harry smiled vaguely at his friend and nodded in response, leading the way to the exit.

„What about you?" Ron asked. When Harry hesitated, he continued, „Mate, you can't not go, Hermione will drag me into Tomes and Scrolls and Scrivenshaft's, I need you."

„We'll see," Harry said and earned a deep sigh from Ron.

Together they walked towards the Great Hall for breakfast. A few moments later, Hermione joined them, followed by Ginny. There was a welcomed silence for a few minutes as they all grabbed some food and quietly ate it, keeping their thoughts to themselves.

The last class was a double Transfiguration class with the Slytherins. Hermione had followed Ginny to her class, telling the boys she'd catch up with them later, so of course Harry and Ron arrived late for the class. The only table available was one in the back row, and they hurriedly sat down, receiving a look from Professor McGonagall that made them wish they hadn't turned up at all. On Ron's right hand was Seamus and Dean seated, both of them currently trying to get the attention of Neville – who was placed in front of Ron and Harry besides Hermione. Harry looked to his left and immediately felt his throat constrict. _Malfoy._ He was four feet away from Draco, only the width of the narrow aisle separating them.

He wasn't sure whether Draco hadn't noticed- or if he was just ignoring Harry (which he had done ever since their "encounter" in the cupboard), but something told him he should believe in the latter. He only realised he might've looked at Draco for a bit too long, when he felt Ron's stare heavy on his neck. He straightened up and moved his gaze towards Professor McGonagall.

„Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, come to my desk," she said, and the expression in her eyes was very much that of annoyance. Harry and Ron exchanged nervous looks before getting up from their seats. Harry felt extremely self-conscious as he passed Draco's table and walked up to Professor McGonagall. He had expected her to be cross at them and giving them detention for being late, but instead she gave them both a box. As Harry took it in his arms, he felt it tilt from side to side, as if something was rolling around inside it.

„Give each student a puffskein, bring back the boxes, take one yourselves and go back to your seats," she commanded. Harry nodded his agreement and opened the lid on his box. A bunch of spherical, small, custard-coloured fur-balls were placed in it, all of them emitting low humming noises. Harry walked up to a table and let the students grab a puffskein.

His stomach knotted painfully when he was only a few feet away from Draco. He discretely eyed his table and only now noticed his friend. He recognised him as Finn Hudson's half brother; Kurt, which made him relax slightly. He had talked to Finn before, and knew that he was a great guy. A small voice inside of Harry whispered hopefully, _maybe Kurt is, too._ He went to give Neville a puffskein before turning to Draco's table. Kurt was the first one to grab one and he made a soft sound of amusement as the animal hummed in pleasure and stuck out its tongue to lick his wrist. Harry let his look fall upon Draco, tension blooming in his stomach as he subconsciously hoped for their eyes to meet. Draco reached into the box and just as he wrapped his hand around one of the puffskeins, he looked up and locked gazes with Harry. For a second his mouth quirked and it looked like he was about to say something, but then he lowered his gaze, leaving Harry with a profound sense of immobility. Draco then took back his fist, now a fluffy ball inside it and scooted an inch closer to Kurt on his chair. Harry let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding before attempting the seemingly impossible task of walking back to Professor McGonagall's desk.

He put the box on her desk, grabbed a puffskein himself and went back to his table, joining Ron.

„Now," Professor McGonagall said, gaining everyone's full attention just by the one word. „I've put a spell on them so they can't use their tongue in order to search for food, so don't worry about that- Oh, Mr. Longbottom, pull yourself together, they only eat the bogies of _sleeping _wizards," she gave Neville who was holding a hand over his nose an exhausted stare and continued, „Now, use the vanishing spell on them. I expect you to be able to perform them perfectly by now." There was scrambling around the classroom as they got out their wands. „And then I want you to use _Coniuro Retrorsum _on them to conjure them back."

„Bloody hell," Harry heard Ron mumble, „I never really learned the vanishing spell last year." Harry loosed a quick smile at Ron, before pointing his wand at the puffskein in front of him.

„_Evanesco,_" he mumbled, making the fluffy puffskein disappear. Besides him, Ron succeeded in doing the same after his third attempt. He allowed himself to steal a glance at Draco's table, where they had accomplished the same as Harry and Ron.

„_Coniuro Retrorsum_!" Ron said – or rather yelled – pointing his wand where the puffskein had been only moments ago. Nothing happened. Harry heard Kurt murmuringthe spell, and turned his head just in time to hear a _pop_ and see his puffskein appear in mid air, softly landing in his palm, humming with enjoyment. He returned his focus to his own table just before Draco let out an amazed „wow".

„_Coniuro Retrorsum," _Harry said, flicking his wand like he had seen Kurt do and widened his eyes in surprise as his puffskein appeared with a small _pop_ on his table.

„How did you do that?" Ron queried, poking Harry's animal with his wand, as if to make sure it was real. Harry shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal, although he couldn't help but feel an amount of pride sweep though him.

Suddenly his heart quickened and he felt like his blood was _singing_ as he unexpectedly came up with an idea as to how to talk to Draco again. It might not work, it might not be the best one, but it was at least an idea. _Detention. _He wasn't exactly sure of how he was going to somehow involve them both in this, but he had a feeling he had to think fast if he were to act on it today.

Draco felt Harry's look upon him from time to time through the entire Transfiguration class, but had done his best to ignore it. He had been seconds away from coming with a snide remark when he had met Harry's eyes before, when he had grabbed a puffskein, but had managed to hold it back, unsure of what Harry might say if he was provoked.

Draco was used to speaking his mind, and found himself having to put a lot of effort into not coming with cunning comments whenever a Gryffindor would fail doing the spell properly.

He constantly heard Ron Weasley yell out the spell, and either nothing would happen or the puffskein would appear for half a second before vanishing again. Kurt had managed to do it on his first try and was now doing his best to teach Draco how to do it, as he had some trouble focusing on the fluffy, little, mustard-coloured ball.

„Draco," Kurt's voice said somewhere beside him. He had turned to watch Ron try for the sixth time. „Draco," the voice said a bit firmer. The red-haired boy still hadn't managed to conjure it back, and Draco returned his attention to Kurt.

„What?" he asked.

„Come on, focus and try again." Kurt gave Draco a slightly suspicious look, but then gestured for him to give the spell a go.

„_Coniuro Retrorsum,_" Draco mumbled, flicking his wand. It seemed like the puffskein was about to appear – the air where it had recently been became blurry and foggy. But a shrill scream cut through the classroom and Draco lost all concentration. He turned to the source of the scream, and saw Ron's puffskein had appeared. But it wasn't fluffy and joyful like all the others. Its fur had turned almost spikey, as if it had been electrocuted, and its tongue was sticking out of its mouth. The squeal it was emanating made a throbbing pain build up behind Draco's eyes, and his gut was clenching as if he had been struck. For a few seconds he forgot to breathe. The puffskein was obviously suffering from Ron's failed spell.

Some students were shouting for Professor McGonagall or Ron to do something, some were covering their ears and clenching their eyes while others were scrunching up their faces in pain.

Draco was the only one who felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach. Watching the animal suffer reminded him too much about his own powers to do the exact same thing to other people. He turned around so he couldn't see the puffskein any longer, and found himself blinking away tears.

„Do something," he whispered, although he knew not even Kurt could hear it from all the noise.

In the vibration of the floor, he felt footsteps approach Harry and Ron's table and a voice shouted something he didn't quite catch, and all noise except for the agonising cry of the puffskein instantly ceased.

„Make it stop," he said and instantly felt a couple of looks burning into the back of his neck. He could've sworn Professor McGonagall uttered a spell, and the screaming stopped for half a second before it continued. „Make it stop," said Draco, a bit louder now, and carefully turned around again. He was staring at the puffskein, but it was clear to him Harry was resting his gaze upon him.

„Quiet, Mr Malfoy," Professor McGonagall said. „Mr Weasley, what _did _you do?" But Ron had his fingers in both his ears, so he didn't notice McGonagall addressing him. The squealing continued, but it seemed to Draco as if no one noticed it anymore. He felt as if his pulse had tripled, his heart pounding as hard as if he was running up the side of a mountain. She flicked her wand at it, but still nothing happened. Draco's vision slowly began to darken, and he had a feeling he was about to be sick.

„Make it stop!" His voice was strained and on the verge of tears. He got up while covering his ears with his palms. He felt Kurt place a hand on his left shoulder, but couldn't focus on it long enough to hold back another outburst. „Do something!"

Professor McGonagall picked up the mustard-coloured ball, a shocked flare burning in her eyes as she gave Draco a quick glance, and walked out of the classroom murmuring something about Grubbly-Plank.

As Professor McGonagall continued down the hallway, the squealing slowly faded, and a blur removed itself from Draco's mind and vision. He realised half the class was looking away in fear and the other half was staring curiously at him. He sat down and felt Kurt lose his grip on him.

He sat for a long moment just staring into the air without seeing anything clearly, letting all his senses focus on the warmth from Kurt's hand on his shoulder. The other students started talking to each other instead of staring at Draco, and as they did, Kurt let his hand slip away and mumbled, „Are you okay?" Draco turned to face his friend.

„I don't know—I, er," he began, but Kurt made a hand gesture to show him to stop talking.

„We'll talk later," he said and smiled gently at Draco, who didn't remember ever feeling more grateful for anything. Draco noticed McGonagall had entered the classroom again, and the moment she cleared her throat to speak, he heard Harry's voice beside him.

„What was that about, Malfoy?" His voice was slick with badly hidden ridicule and Draco sighed before looking to his right. Bright green eyes met blue and for a second or so they just sat and stared. Draco knew that somewhere in the room McGonagall was talking, but everything he could hear was his own breathing. Harry was the first to break the apparent silence. „You would think you've had past experience with something like this." Draco felt the irritation and anger bubble up inside him, just waiting for the moment to get out. But he knew he couldn't act on it. Not in class.

Harry really disliked being this unpleasant, but he _had_ to provoke Draco.

„Shut up, Potter," Draco sneered.

„I swear I remember you saying you _do _have experience with this…" Harry said, and regretting it immediately as he saw Draco's eyes flare with build-up fury.

„I said, _shut up._" He had raised his voice, and McGonagall shushed them and gave them an extra glance before continuing her monologue.

„Or maybe I _dreamed _it," Harry said and raised his voice also, earning a „Quiet down there!" by McGonagall.

„You don't know what you're talking about!" Draco practically shouted, grabbing the edge of his chair so hard his knuckles were turning white.

„You two!" McGonagall said, but both Draco and Harry had shut out the outside. Draco didn't even notice Kurt telling him to shut it, and Harry didn't notice Ron poking him repeatedly in the side to get his attention.

„You have _no right—_" Draco started, but McGonagall was now wandering down to where they were sitting, everyone's eyes following her.

„Mr Malfoy and Mr Potter," she said. Harry reluctantly looked up at her, and felt himself cringe under her stare. Draco was still looking at Harry, feeling his whole body burning with frustration.

„No right to—" Draco mumbled under his breath, but McGonagall cut him off.

„Detention to _both_ of you, and now _keep quiet._" Harry's heart started racing uncontrollably after the words had escaped her lips, and even though he was pretty sure Draco would curse or punch him as soon as they left the classroom, he couldn't help but feel some pride in achieving what he had wanted. He would soon get a chance to talk to Draco. Alone.

* * *

**Reviews are _much_ appreciated, and thank you for reading. I hope you liked it. If anyone have any suggestions - feel free to tell me (I could really need the inspiration!) Thank you!  
**


	11. Chapter 11

**So sorry for the long wait, but as I said, I have a massive writer's block, so there's no knowing when the next chapter will be up - sorry /:  
****Enjoy!**

* * *

Harry decided to leave Draco alone for the rest of the class, hoping he might cool down a bit before he got a chance at hexing Harry.

As the class ended, Professor McGonagall called both of them up to her desk, and told them they'd be doing detention together this Saturday evening.

„You can come to my office at 5:30pm, Saturday, and I will tell you what to do," she said. The two boys nodded and returned to their waiting friends; Harry to Ron and Hermione, and Draco to Kurt. Harry and Draco exchanged a glare for a number of heartbeats that was so very far from the usual fiendish look. Harry couldn't quite place it, but it almost made him regret having done what he did. An expression of penetrating blame transformed Malfoy's features, leaving Harry with a desperate desire to run away as fast as his legs allowed him. But as Draco turned to listen to something Kurt Hummel said, he felt his stomach drop a little, and found himself repressing the wish to have Malfoy turn around again.

„Bloody hell, Harry," Ron's voice said besides him.

„What was that about?" Hermione asked, and Harry turned to face them both.

„Huh?" Even though he knew exactly what Hermione was on about, he needed to buy a little time to figure out what to tell them. „Um..."

„What happened? What did he do?" Hermione continued. Harry couldn't help but happily realise that Hermione had quickly jumped to the conclusion that Malfoy must've started this and Harry just had had enough.

„Well, he-" He began, but got interrupted by a worried-looking Ron.

„Malfoy didn't start it."

„Well it wasn't-"

„You did, Harry. You kept provoking him. It was odd, really."

„Come on, guys, we'd better get back to the common room or something. McGonagall is packing up." Ron and Harry followed Hermione out of the class room and walked in silence half the way until Ron couldn't contain himself anymore.

„Harry, are you planning on telling us what you were thinking back then?" Hermione kept staring forward, leading the way they all knew by heart, and Harry was certain she was trying to figure out the answer to Ron's question in her head. „And don't say you don't know because you were definitely up to something." Harry knew that Ron was mostly upset because he hadn't been told about the "plan" beforehand.

„Look, I'm sorry, okay?" Some little part of him had hoped that would've been enough, but Ron kept staring at him, expecting him to hand over the full explanation.

„ Now you can't even come to Hogsmeade with us on Saturday because you had to act up and get detention. The least you could've done was _whispered_." Harry could've sworn he saw Hermione stop for a quarter of a second, but Ron was too busy with fiddling with the hem on his sleeve to notice.

„I had forgotten about Hogsmeade," Harry said truthfully. „I promise I'll go next time, okay?" Ron shook his head vaguely, but didn't bring it up again.

* * *

Later that evening, the trio was sitting by the fire in their favourite spots, a bit away from the other students. Harry and Ron were working on Charms homework while Hermione was reading a book about some wizard Harry didn't recognise. Ron hadn't exactly come around, but was slowly beginning to forget about Harry not confiding his plan to him, thanks to the homework. Hermione hadn't spoken much since the class.

„This is pointless!" Ron burst out and aggressively curled up the roll of parchment with his homework on. „I'll finish this tomorrow. I'm going to bed." He got up and looked expectantly at Harry. „Are you going, too?"

„In a bit. I want to finish this," Harry replied. Ron bade them both goodnight and disappeared to their dormitory. The second he was out of earshot, Hermione closed her book and looked suspiciously at Harry.

„Why did you get detention?" The question caught Harry off guard and he gaped at her for too long before managing to murmur a „what?"

„Ron said that you started it, that you provoked Malfoy, and you apparently didn't use much effort to keep it down, so you must've wanted to get detention." She said it in a single breath and way too fast, and Harry had to go through the sentence twice in his head before he let out a stifled chuckle.

„I didn't get detention on purpose, Hermione." He tried to sound as nonchalant as possible, as if she was crazy for suggesting it.

„Why are you so secretive about this, Harry? What is it that would be so bad for us to know?" The sour taste of guilt filled his mouth and he watched Hermione frown at him as he had an internal struggle with himself. On one side he wanted nothing else but tell Hermione and Ron about Malfoy, but on the other he had promised the boy not to tell anyone.

„I promised someone not to tell anyone about this..."

„But how is Malfoy a part of this?" Harry felt a measure of hot blood rush to his face for a reason that was alien to him, and felt him flush twice as much when he noticed it. „What- Harry, you're blushing." The corner of her mouth quirked and Harry quickly looked towards his homework and pretended to read through what he had written.

„He barely has anything to do with it," Harry lied, feeling his cheeks slowly going back to their normal temperature.

„Harry." He removed his look from the homework and fixed it at Hermione again. Her voice had suddenly become more serious than it had been only a moment ago.

„What?"

„What did you say to provoke him? I think it's limited what could make Malfoy react like he did." Harry's gaze wavered for a moment before he returned looking Hermione in the eyes.

„I just commented his reaction to Ron's puffskein's outburst. No big deal."

„But what did you _say_?"

„I just asked him what it was about."

„That alone couldn't have made him that cross. I _saw_ him, Harry, remember? I was there."

„If I tell you what I said, will you promise not to ask me _why_ I said it?"

Hermione looked as if she was close to declining, but then curiosity took over and she nodded, biting her lower lip.

Harry was about to begin, but then sighed and took a deep breath so he was able to say it all in one go. The faster he said it, the faster he'd get it over with. He locked gazes with Hermione and told her everything.

After he had finished she looked at him, curiosity and confusion fighting for space in her expression.

„Harry... I don't understand how such simple things could-"

„Hermione, you promised not to ask," Harry said before she could finish her sentence. „I think I'm gonna go to bed now." He rolled up his parchment and got up.

„Well, thanks for telling me. I just... Never mind, goodnight, Harry." She smiled at him and he nodded goodnight and went up to his dormitory. Ron was lying in bed, but the missing snoring told Harry that he wasn't asleep yet.

* * *

Over the next couple of days everything quietly went back to the usual routine.

Four days later, the Slytherins had just finished their last lesson of the day. Kurt and Draco was on their way to their common room when Kurt felt a poke on his shoulder. He stopped too see who was behind him and turned to look directly into a pair of hazel eyes. He felt his breath getting caught in his throat, and for a moment he forgot about Draco. Then he smiled weakly at Blaine and put up a finger to show him 'just one sec'.

He looked back at Draco and said, „Just go, I'll catch up."

Draco opened his mouth to reply, but Kurt could easily see in his eyes that the comment he was about to make would be snide, so he decided to interrupt before he said something inappropriate in front of Blaine.

„It's fine, I'll just see you later, okay?" he muttered, giving up a quick smile. It luckily made Draco glance one last time at Kurt before walking on towards the Slytherin chambers. Kurt returned his attention to Blaine.

„Hey," he said.

„Hey, you," Blaine said, the mere sound of his voice making Kurt's stomach doing loops. Blaine cleared his throat and spoke. „I was j-just wondering if you're going to Hogsmeade tomorrow?" _Is he asking me if I want to—oh, wait…_ Kurt felt his heart drop.

Blaine noticed a bright spark appear in Kurt's eyes, but then it vanished just as quickly.

„No, I can't go," he said.

„Oh? Because I was kind of hoping—Why can't you go?" Blaine asked, feeling his cheeks reddening.

„My parents haven't signed my permission slip. Er, but I— If I could—I wish—I mean, if it had been possible—I wanted, um," he became frustratingly inarticulate in his effort to express that he would've went if he had been able to. „Why?" he was hoping that Blaine was asking him to go with him, but didn't dare ask him if that was it for fear he would tell him it was something else.

„I was going to ask you if you wanted to come with me." A faint smile flickered about the corners of Kurt's lips. „Is Malfoy going?"

„He has detention in the evening, so he's decided to stay home until then."

„In the evening, you say?" Kurt nodded gingerly. „Well, Hummel, do you want to spend the evening with me instead, then?" The pace of Kurt's heart quickened instantly. _Don't seem too eager,_ he thought to himself.

„Sure." Astonished, he heard his voice come out cool and casual.

„When is his detention?"

„5:30pm."

„Meet me in the library?"

„Perfect." For a second they shared a look of anticipation. „See you then," Kurt said and turned around, hurrying away, trying to catch up with Draco.

* * *

Saturday evening, Draco wandered off towards Professor McGonagall's office for his detention with Harry, followed shortly by Kurt, heading for the library.

As Kurt entered the library he felt his nerves acting up, and had to take a steadying breath before continuing down through the library. As he reached the wall farthest away from the entrance, he skimmed the place and found a familiar looking, curly-haired Ravenclaw sitting on a couch, a book in his hand. The nervousness instantly disappeared and he felt his whole body calm down.  
„Blaine," Kurt said. Blaine looked up from his book and smiled at him.

„You finally made it!" Kurt frowned and walked to sit down besides Blaine.

„Finally? I'm not late," he stated.

„I know." Kurt noticed his smile hadn't faltered the slightest. He looked towards the half-closed book in Blaine's lap.

„What are you reading?"

„Um, just some old stories." Kurt picked up the book from Blaine's hands and looked at the cover, making sure he didn't close it.

„_The Tales of Beedle the Bard_."

„Well, I just saw it on the shelf a while back, and figured why not." Kurt nodded understanding. „And I've never read it so-"

„Wait, you've never read it?" Kurt asked, handing the book back to Blaine with a very sceptical look in his eyes.

„Well, my- My parents are Muggles, so I've never really..." His voice slowly faded out as he watched Kurt's whole body-language change to something that seemed awfully much like uneasiness. „What? What is it?" _It's because I said I was Muggle-born, I know it, he's going to insult me and walk out of here, what was I even- _Kurt interrupted Blaine's thought with a wave that gestured him to stay still.

„Spider." His voice was calm and steady, so not alike what his body-language was showing. He reached towards Blaine's arm and flicked off something he could only see as a black spot, resting on his sleeve.

„Oh, thanks," Blaine said. _Just a spider. Silly, Blaine. _Although he couldn't help but notice that Kurt still seemed rather tense. „Okay! So what are we going to do tonight?"

„We could go for a walk outside," Kurt suggested. Blaine considered the idea before agreeing.

* * *

They went to their separate common rooms to pick up their scarves and other things they might need and met up again after doing so in the Clock Tower Courtyard. Right in the middle of the courtyard, an antique fountain stood, surrounded by eagles cut out of stone. The walls and the ceiling surrounding them seemed, as always, decaying. The bitter bite of the air told them that winter was coming, but wrapped up in their scarves and robes, talking quietly with each other, none of them noticed anything.  
They walked through the courtyard and continued through the bridge and as they reached the Stone Cirlce by the end, they decided on one of the benches and sat down. For a moment, quiet reigned in the Circle, Kurt and Blaine just taking a moment to be still in each other's company.

„So tell me about Kurt Hummel," Blaine said and made a small, quite eager smile. Kurt raised an eyebrow, smirked softly and tilted his head in what he hoped was a thoughtful manner. Blaine pulled his legs up and sat in a cross-legged position on the bench, so he could actually face Kurt. „Basic stuff." Kurt mimicked Blaine's position and nodded encouraging as if to tell him that if he wanted to know, he had to ask. „Got any siblings?"

„A half-brother," Kurt said. „Finn. He's in Gryffindor," he shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal.

„Gryffindor? Are you guys very different?" Blaine asked.

„I guess on most levels, yeah."  
Blaine nodded understanding and reached into his pockets to pull out a small box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.

„I know what you mean," he said and opened the box. He handed it to Kurt who took one out and studied it carefully. „I have a sister and she's in Slytherin. And we're totally different yet we're almost the same person sometimes."

„Precisely," Kurt said, pleased about Blaine putting words on the feeling he had himself. „By the way, this looks poisonous," Kurt pointed out, eyeing the jelly bean in his hand.

„Try it," Blaine said, eating one he had taken himself without even glancing at it. Blaine chewed a few times and then covered his face with his hands, repeatedly saying, „oh no, not this one!" in a very dramatic voice.

„Blaine?" Kurt started to laugh, but slowly managed to stop himself and become fluent again. „What did you get?" Immediately Blaine removed his hands and Kurt noticed his face was split into a wide - and very contagious - grin. Kurt was genuinely surprised at how attractive the boy managed to be with his face almost scrunched up in a smile.

„I was just kidding, I merely got blueberry. Your turn," Blaine said, gesturing to the bright-blue, almost white bean still lying dead-still in Kurt's palm.  
Kurt closed his eyes, and Blaine swore that he heard him mumble, „if this is rotten egg or earwax or Merlin knows what, I swear I will hex you," under his breath. He put the bean in his mouth and chewed a couple of times.

„By the way, I think I know your sis- oh my god." Kurt chewed the bean one more time and then swallowed the whole thing. „Soap."

„What? That's not even that bad!" Blaine said and made a stifled chuckle, Kurt couldn't place as anything but the-most-adorable-thing-I've-ever-heard.

„Well, as I was saying..." he gave Blaine a look that he usually reserved for his other classmates when he needed them to shut it, but to his surprise Blaine scoffed at him and rolled his eyes. „Cheeky." Blaine simply shrugged. „_As I was saying..._ I think I know your sister, actually. Rachel Berry, right?"

„If you want me to answer, eat this jelly bean." Blaine took another bean from the box and handed it to Kurt.

„Are you joking?"

„Nope," Blaine said, looking very pleased with himself. „If you manage to eat it, I will answer, if not... Well. Let's just hope it's cherry." He pressed his lips against each other and they slowly curved into an incredibly dorky smile. Kurt couldn't help but laugh at him, before putting the dark green and brown jelly bean into his mouth. He chewed and as the taste filled his mouth he raised his hands in victory.

„Watermelon!" Blaine looked slightly disappointed.

„Okay, so to answer your question..."

„No, wait, I want to change it. I've risked the lives of my taste-buds, so it's only fair I get to ask a proper question." Blaine looked taken aback for a second, before the smile re-appeared.

„So what's your question?"

„Let me see... Okay, so, tell me about when you received your first Hogwarts letter."

„That's not actually a question," Blaine pointed out.

„Just do it."

„Bossy, much?"

„Blaine."

„Slytherins... What to do about them."

„Blaine!"

„Okay, okay, I'm sorry- no, don't throw it at me, please!" Kurt, suppressing a smile, very slowly put down the jelly bean he had picked up and was aiming at the highly amused Blaine. „Okay, well it was about five months after I had turned ten and I had just awoken. I walked into the living room and joined my sister in front of the television-"

„The what?"

„Oh, right," Blaine mumbled. „You don't even know what that is, do you?" Kurt refrained from answering. „Well no worries, it's just a Muggle-device. Anyway, my parents are still in bed because it's just another regular Saturday, and then..." He glared mischievous at Kurt and spread out his hands as to build up the tension. „we hear the post coming. My sister goes to pick it up and she is like 'Blaine, there're letters for us' and I go to her and grab my letter. And after we've read them we stare at each other for a long while, you know, we both know that we both know they must've made some kind of error. But we run to our parent's room and shows them our letters, and after they realised this wasn't a joke and spent the entire day sort of coming to terms with it, while me and Rachel are just jumping up and down singing childish spells from old Muggle-fairytales, they were actually really proud of us."

„That sounds like a really nice day," Kurt said, truly meaning it.

„It was." A touch of cool air touched Blaine's skin, and he rubbed his arms for a few seconds for warmth before continuing. „So what about when you got yours?"

„Oh, both my parents are wizards, I've been destined since birth, blah blah, nothing interesting." Blaine's lifted his eyebrows. Kurt returned his stare of disbelief with a blank expression, daring him to challenge the statement. After a moment, Blaine moved his gaze.

„Okay, so tell me about when you and Malfoy first met and _how _you could possibly become friends with him." Although it was meant as teasing there was a bit of truth in what he said.

„Hey!" This time Kurt actually did threw a jelly bean towards Blaine.

„Missed!"

„I'm serious, he's my friend, don't talk about him like that."

„Fine, I'm sorry, but seriously, how did you two end up meeting?" Kurt eyed the jelly beans and then Blaine.

„Eat a bean and we'll see if I will answer." Blaine sighed and picked up a red bean with little dark red spots and ate it. A small amount of time passed.

„What's with the face," Kurt said, almost bursting with laughter. Blaine looked as if he was chewing on an old, dirty sock.

„Man," Blaine said, in between chews. „This is horrible." He swallowed the bean and cleared his throat several times. „Earthworm. Stop laughing!"

„Brilliant," Kurt said, forcing himself not to think back at Blaine's contorted face, to keep himself from laughing. And then he told Blaine about when he and Draco met, how they had bonded throughout the first year, how they had had their ups and downs, but now were the people who knew each other better than anyone. Kurt was the next to eat a bean („Green apple!" he had shouted happily). He had asked Blaine about his and Luna's friendship, and Blaine had replied with their story, about how everyone thought she was a bit odd and Blaine didn't feel like he fitted in the first couple of years, so somehow they just ended up spending a lot of time together, and one thing led to another and now they were practically best friends. They went back and forth like that for a long time, asking each other questions, sometimes ending up in discussions, sometimes just chatting about meaningless things and sometimes laughing at what flavour bean the other got. That was until Kurt noticed the dark very carefully was settling over the castle and the trees around them.

„Maybe we should head back." he suggested.

„Yeah, no, I have one more question and then we can head back." Kurt gestured towards the box with jelly beans. Blaine chose a pink one and mumbled joyfully, „candyfloss" before returning his attention to Kurt. „Okay, so tell me the deal about your interest in Vita Reali." The mere mention of Vita Reali made Kurt overwhelmed with all sorts of different emotions. On one hand he wanted to tell Blaine about it and actually _discuss_ it with someone, but he would never betray Draco's trust. And then he felt sad because Draco had to endure this, and guilty because he couldn't do anything. And then there was the small pinch of pride because he was the only one Draco had told this to, but also the fear because he knew his friend was hiding something.

„Well..."

„You're not suffering from it, are you?" Blaine asked, seeming suddenly very scared of having crossed a line.

„Oh, no- not me- I don't- no." Kurt wanted to slap himself. „I just find it interesting, that's what I told you back then, too." He let his leg slip from under him and placed his feet on the ground. They were tingling.

„But I was thinking... You couldn't find a book about it. Yet you know enough to find it interesting?"

„There are other sources of information than books, Blaine," Kurt said, painfully aware of how his legs had fallen asleep. „Shit," he mumbled under his breath, doing his best to stay still till it was over.

„Well, yeah, but-"

„I just heard about it from someone, and thought I wanted to look into it." He looked at Blaine. The hazel eyes had turned slightly darker, but he wasn't sure whether that was just because the weather was doing the same.

„You're not going to tell me, are you?"

Kurt sighed. „No."

„Not even if I eat all of these?" He held up the box of jelly beans.

„No," he repeated, yet a chuckle escaped this time.

„Ah, well." Kurt patted his legs testing and found them only to hurt a little, so he got up and held out his hand to pull Blaine up from his sitting-position. Blaine grabbed his outstretched-hand, and the same kind of electric, buzzing, warm feeling, he had felt when he had first shook Blaine's hand, spread through Kurt's body, making him want to hang onto this boy for as long as possible.

„Well, let's get back," he said after Blaine had gotten up. He put his hands in his pockets and they walked side by side, quietly talking while walking through the bridge, the courtyard and half the castle. They eventually reached a hallway leading towards the Slytherin common room.

„So thanks for tonight!" Blaine said, beaming at Kurt.

„Yeah, thanks, it was- It was nice." _We should do this again sometime,_ he thought.

„That sounded so genuine," Blaine teased, rolling his eyes.

„No, I'm serious, I had a great time." It seemed as if he was about to say something more, but he didn't open his mouth to speak. _We should do this again sometime - just say it._

„Well, I'll be off, then!"

„Okay." _Just say it._

„We should do this again someday," Blaine said before turning around to walk away. A huge wave of relief swept through Kurt, making him feeling lightheaded for a moment.

„Sure!" he said, just loud enough for Blaine to hear. The Ravenclaw waved without a backward glance, but for some reason, Kurt had a hunch he was grinning.

When he returned to the Slytherin common room, he quickly went to his dormitory. And on his own bed he found a very exhausted-looking Draco.

„Draco?" he smiled at the sight of the usually well-kept blonde hair resting messily on his friend's forehead. Draco stirred and _very_ slowly sat up in bed. „Why are you in my bed?"

„It was closest to the entrance," Draco replied. „I'll go move." His voice sounded as if he hadn't slept for months and had taken three sleeping pills on top of that.

„It's fine, just lie down," Kurt said, sitting down beside him. Draco mumbled something incoherent and did as he was told. Something that made Kurt worry slightly more. „You okay?"

„Oh, yeah, I'm just really exhausted. Only just returned from detention with Potter." Kurt waited for a bit for the usual rant about how big a twat Harry was, and when it didn't come, he got truly worried.

„Are you sure you're okay? What happened at detention?" He made sure to keep an eye on Draco's expression while he talked, hoping to maybe find something there he wouldn't tell.

„We cleaned a lot of cauldrons. And then we cleaned a lot of spoons... and you remember that gooey smudge on the back of that one chair no one wants to sit in?" Kurt nodded even though Draco's eyes were closed and he wouldn't see. „Gone. So I just really need some sleep," he said. „Or the closest thing to that I can get at least. Because my mind right now is just..." He let out a deep sigh, sat up and opened his eyes.

„Pretty harsh day. You weren't allowed to use magic, I assume?" Draco depressingly shook his head.

„Not even on that gooey smudge." He went over to his own bed and let his body fall down on the duvet.

* * *

**Reviews are much appreciated as I - as always - could really need some inspiration u.u  
****The next chapter will of course be about Draco and Harry!  
****Thanks so much for reading! I hope it lived up to your expectations!**


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